Asian Beef and Mango Salad

Week 3, day 3...

Asian taco salad? Surprising, but good. Spicy beef, light dressing, crunchy peanuts, cool cucumbers, tangy cilantro and sweet mangos. It also meets my 3 main criteria for salads: knife unnecessary, lots of vegetables other than lettuce and fruit/nuts!

Shrimp with White Beans and Quinoa

Week 3, day 2, a.k.a., shrimp with white beans and toast.

The more I think about this recipe, the more I love that it is a total secret weapon. It literally took less time than a DiGiorno pizza to make this (and that is even with me peeling and slicing the garlic). The subtle flavor of butter, garlic and white wine (traditional shrimp pairings), together with the creamy white beans and peppery arugula, results in a sophisticated meal. Yay!

Update: we fell off the health wagon a bit in December, and I made this as originally designed, with toasted white bread. Husband (completely ignorant that we'd had this before) swore the bread made the dish. So there you go.

Chicken Paprikash

Week 3, Day 1 -- My husband starts the week by doing the Billy Crystal quote of "too much pepper in my paprikash" and requests a viewing of this movie while we eat the chicken paprikash.

First: I think this recipe needs to be a little more descriptive. "Bell pepper" should have a color-- it looks like the photo editor used green, but I used red because I wanted the sauce to be a uniform color. 2 1/2 lbs. thighs and drumsticks should be more specific, as in, 4 chicken legs (each leg being one thigh and one drumstick). And "large pot" should really be clear that you need something with reasonably high sides, but also a wide surface area-- something like this All-Clad saute pan, 6 qt. size, would be perfect.

Second: I don't think tomatoes and a bell pepper are sufficient as a dinner vegetable portion. We deleted the egg noodles and added cauliflower, as you'll see in the picture.

Enough whining; the Hungarian version of chicken cacciatore is good weeknight food. It's also one of those perfect, "add ___ and pause" kind of meals where you can manage to do all of your mise en place and cleaning while it's simmering away. The sour cream and dill really make the recipe, adding a fresh and creamy texture to an otherwise hearty braised dish.

Steak with Roasted Carrots and Onions

Week 1, Day 4, will need a do-over... catch it next time.

Week 1, Day 5, however, was the perfect fit for a Friday night. Steak and wine is the best reward for a week of chicken and diet Coke. No idea what Newport steaks are; we bought a large NY strip steak and split it. Since we needed to open a new bottle of wine for the sauce, I opted for red; the sauce was a dark burgandy instead of a nice mustard color, but it was delicious. I've never cooked with tarragon before; Central Market doesn't carry it in the local herb section, so I bought the package and was scared when I opened it and smelled the black licorice-y flavor. Fortunately, the dijon and the wine tone down the anise and negate the Twizzler effect. So easy that this may be my go-to sauce for steak. And I love when recipes remind me that all you need to bring out the best flavor in vegetables is olive oil, salt, pepper and a roasting pan (see, e.g., asparagus). Somehow the onions imbued their scent not only in my entire kitchen, but in the carrots as well.

Turkey Burgers with Creamy Romaine Slaw

Week 1, Day 3 (skipping the pasta dish due to excess carbs, boo).

I have never been a huge fan of turkey burgers. I think this is because I've seen too many episodes of the Biggest Loser where Jillian and Bob chastise the contestants for eating ground turkey that is not strictly breast meat; therefore, when I am trying to have a "healthy" burger, I'll substitute chicken breast or a black bean burger. But it turns out black bean burgers have a huge amount of sodium, and even 93/7 turkey is low in calories, and we're all going to die anyway. Also: my first turkey burger was incredibly bland and difficult to forget.

But these turkey burgers are not bland! It's kind of the Giada de Laurentiis throw a bunch of stuff in the turkey meatballs approach (see here). I liked the tangy mustard, and the oniony scallions, and I loved that I had already bought thyme for the previous day's recipe. The romaine and carrot slaw was a fun topping; my husband admitted that he hated coleslaw, but that this version was both creamier and more flavorful. Success! I used baby romaine, which took a little longer to slice, but I used a food pro for grating the carrots and that went quickly.

Roasted Tilapia, Potatoes and Lemons

Skipping back to week 1 of the Real Simple one-month meal plan.

The roasted tilapia, potatoes and lemons was a nice balance of summer and winter-- crisp, fresh lemons and tilapia and familiar, homey potatoes and thyme. Kalamata olives to add a Mediterranean flair. Perfect for October. At the risk of sounding cliche, this looked incredibly sophisticated but was real simple.

Next time, I'll make it ever-so-slightly more complicated but keeping half of the thyme on stems and breaking off the leaves and chopping the other half. The thyme looked appealing on stem, but was difficult to eat, especially when the roasted lemons also fell apart and we were picking out lemon zest as well. The lemon issue may have been user error; next time I'll use a larger pan and try to get them crispy on top (this time, I used a small casserole and ended up putting the tilapia on top of the lemons and potatoes).

Chorizo and Potato Tacos with Black Bean and Radish Side

Skipping Red Currant-Glazed Chicken with Spinach for now... will blog on the next go around...

Okay, these chorizo and potato tacos are awesome. My husband actually saw this recipe in the magazine and asked every night if we were finally having it. It's one of those silly things -- I love tacos with potatoes but never made them at home because I thought the true dice would be too time-consuming. However, when you use bursting-with-flavor chorizo, you can spend an extra minute chopping because you save time on seasoning. Similarly, I usually serve plain canned black beans, which I like but don't love. Here, though, the beans are not reheated. The radish/lime/cumin/cilantro combo really helped step them up (although I refuse to call it a "salsa" since there aren't any peppers). We used low-carb wheat tortillas and ate the beans on the side since the chorizo mixture more than filled them up. This recipe followed the warm meat, cold side pattern the other recipes used; I'll have to see if that carries through the other weeks.

Overall, YUM, but... by far the least healthy of the week. It's difficult to get an exact count on chorizo, since we used the Central Market links, but it was not bueno. The pork fat covered potatoes, though-- muy bueno.

Lamb Meatballs with Couscous and Feta

Real Simple week 2, day 2...

These lamb meatballs came together so fast it made me totally rethink meatballs! It helped to divide up the lamb mixture in four equal chunks, and then each chunk into 5 pieces. I never think of serving just raw tomato/cucumber as vegetable sides, but they were so fresh and delicious here mixed in with the lamb, dressing and couscous. (As an aside, for the "English cucumber" I believe the magazine is referencing a seedless cucumber-- mine actually happened to be from Canada). I can't imagine these would be as good with hamburger, but it was tempting to get extra lean ground beef since I know the ground lamb is fairly fatty... oh well. One final invaluable hint here: 4 oz. is A LOT of feta. Without a kitchen scale, I would never have guessed it was so much. It felt nice to get the extra :)

Overall, our second favorite of week 2.

Real Simple Four-Week Dinner Plan / Curry Shrimp and Snow Peas

October's Real Simple features a four-week dinner plan of easy weeknight recipes. Last week we did week 2-- we got out of order because the first meal of week 1 (Roasted Tilapia, Potatoes and Lemon) was too close to the Baked Cod and Chorizo to have 2 weeks in a row. So far, the recipes are simple and quick as promised, and the variety is incredible. We tend to fall in a fish/chicken Mexican/stir-fry rut, and even though I plan each week in advance I've never tried to vary the cuisine this much, which I'm definitely going to start doing. However, we have had some problems with the emphasis on white flour based dishes (toast, pizza, pasta) and therefore it looks like I'll be eliminating or adapting 1-2 recipes a week.

To start, the curry shrimp and snow peas. Bean sprouts and red curry paste are ingredients I have never bought before-- yay branching out! Central Market has a bulk bin of bean sprouts in the produce section, near the bulk lettuce, so I was able to buy just the right amount. I ended up using quinoa instead of rice, as we were out of brown rice, and this dish definitely needed something to soak up the sauce. Overall, I loved the cold, crunchy vegetables and the warm, Thai-style shrimp; not sure that I loved them together, in the same bowl. Next time, I think we'll try this as an entree and a side.

Orange Chicken with Vegetables

This orange chicken recipe tastes like it came from Pei Wei-- and that is a giant compliment. I think it's the combination of spinach and ginger. This is in contrast to, for example, the Panda Express orange chicken, which is delicious but kind of also tastes like candy. Here, there is just a soupcon of orange from the orange zest, enough to provide a citrus-y scent but not enough to make you forget you're digging into a traditional Asian-style rice wine/soy sauce sauce. My favorite part, though, was the cherry tomatoes-- they're not something you'd get in delivery take-out, but they provide a fresh and juicy contrast to the rest of the stir fry. Very quick to put together, especially when you ignore the roasted and ground Sichuan peppercorns and just toss in a teaspoon of red pepper flakes (I like it hot!).

Roasted Pork Chops and Peaches

I love pairing meat and fruit! Especially here, where the pork chops are paired with the unexpected combination of peaches instead of apples. Immediately the pork chops seem lighter, fresher, summery. The couscous is not an integral part of the dish; we didn't include due to calorie counting. Warning: I've got a standard Le Creuset 7 1/4 qt. dutch oven, and it was tough to fit 3 pork chops in here. Otherwise, easy prep and just enough time in the oven to clean up the kitchen!

White fish with cucumbers and dill

Shoot, I am running behind... so far behind that I don't remember which type of white fish I made this with. Something cheaper than halibut, maybe tilapia?

Anyway, good, unique end-of-summer flavors here. The baked cucumber with the dill, lemon juice and white wine ends up somewhere between a cucumber and a pickle, just tangy enough not to overwhelm the delicate fish. Due to the thin sauce, I served this over quinoa to soak up all of the flavor.

Linguine with Turkey Meatballs and Quick Sauce

I've sat down twice to blog about the linguine with turkey meatballs and quick sauce recipe from Everyday Pasta, which I cannot find online in an official form (it's on page 177-- buy it!). The trick to the recipe is that Giada throws all kinds of flavorful bits in with the turkey in the meatballs to pump up the bland flavor, including pancetta, sun-dried tomatoes and cheese, which makes it perfect for someone who is turkey ambivalent like me. Since we're counting calories these days, I cut out the first installment of EVOO down to 2 tablespoons, and then reused the leftover oil for the quick sauce without adding more. I also cut the cheese in half-- this I might recommend even if you're not counting calories, because the cheese has the tendency to burn and stick to the pan in the oven. Finally, I cut down on the amount of linguine and used whole wheat; unless you're making your own linguine, the sauce is the yummy part and doesn't need an excessive amount of pasta.

Orange and Soy Glazed Chicken Thighs

How do I explain these bizarre bundles? You create a veggie tower of shitake mushrooms and scallions, layer on a chicken thigh (recipe calls for bone-in, I used boneless and baked for less) and smush. Amazingly, they stay together! You then top off with the orange-soy sauce. The sauce is delicious (sweet, salty, sour), but be warned... do not let it sit. It will thicken quickly. I would recommend assembling the sauce ingredients, but not starting to cook it until the chicken is ready and out of the oven.

Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf

I said no tofu... I didn't promise no quinoa!

If you want meatloaf, you should eat this meatloaf. If you want meatloaf but have been forced to banish unhealthy deliciousness from your diet, try this. It's spicy! It's sweet! It's still turkey, but you can deal. The friend who passed along the recipe suggested replacing the 1 teaspoon of water with about a tablespoon of tomato paste. According to livestrong, if you divide it into 10 slices, it's 114 calories a slice. So have a few slices :)

Baked Cod and Chorizo

All right, so the recipes from here on it are going to get a teeny tiny bit healthier-- less red meat, less fat, more veggies, more spices. No tofu.

The smart thing about this Spanish-style baked cod and chorizo recipe is that it uses a very small amount of chorizo, which is super flavorful but has a lot of fat, and makes the flavor go a long way. Meanwhile, there is a lot of lean protein in the cod and just enough potatoes to fill you up without overdoing it on carbs. Watch out for cooking the chorizo-- I found that mine cooked much faster than expected. On my burner, at least, I'll stick with medium heat.

Bizarrely, my husband said this was good the next day. I'm afraid of leftover fish, so I kind of don't believe him.

Butter Chicken

I don't know why, but I'm kind of embarrassed about the success of this recipe. Partly because it's from Pioneer Woman, partly because it's called "butter chicken" and partly because of the large amount of cream it contains. I've been wanting to make Indian food at home, and even though the tandoori chicken I made was a success, I'm still gun shy from my Jamie Oliver curry failure and wanted to try something easy. Well, this was definitely easy and, as the multitude of commenters noted, delicious. I didn't end up marinating the chicken overnight; I don't imagine there would be a huge taste difference, but starting with cut-up marinated chicken would definitely be a time-saver on a weeknight. As commenters noted, this does make a huge amount of sauce, so next time I would halve the tomato sauce and halve the cream (and use light cream or half and half instead). I think the reduction of the liquids will also intensify the spice flavors and make this less American-ized.

Sweet and Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder

From Real Simple's February issue, a yummy pork slow-cooker recipe, which I'm positive I could have passed off as authentic take-out. This was a little bizarre for a slow-cooker recipe, I thought, since it didn't rely on a lot of liquid, just the soy sauce, but it turned out fine. I did the prep the night before, and my husband tossed it together in the morning. By the time I got home, the sauce was dark and salty and rich. In fact, even if you're using low-sodium soy sauce, I would probably not add in the kosher salt. Some of the commenters suggested cooking the whole shoulder and then shredding when it's done. I'm planning on trying this the next time, and maybe adding a little extra water as well.

Mmmeatloaf

Oh, I felt so Sandra Lee-style guilty when I made this recipe. But let's face it: meatloaf is meant to be made mom-style, with fat and preservatives. It's a sometimes meal, but a delicious one, especially the crunchy cheese and cracker pieces (hint: use about 13 Ritz crackers). I took a friend's advice and put two slices of stale bread in the bottom of the pan; that helped to absorb grease, but definitely use extra lean beef (my husband completely canceled out this step by eating the bread and pronouncing it yummy). I take the meatloaf out about 160 degrees to ensure it is cooked through. The meatloaf is a little crumbly no matter how long you wait, but I would wait at least a few (say 10) minutes before slicing or you'll end up with meatcrumble. Top with a mixture of ketchup, honey, and worchestershire sauce-- we used 6 tablespoons, 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon, respectively, to cover the loaf.

No-Bake Cookies

No link for this one-- I've been eating these cookies for 20+ years, and since I had chunky regular Jif (not natural) for the blondies, I had to make a batch. You can't really lose with chocolate and peanut butter.

Combine 2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup milk in a saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes, starting as soon as the mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter and 3 cups oatmeal. Drop on wax paper and refrigerate until firm.

Tandoori Chicken Kebabs

One of the other shows I've started watching on Cooking Channel is Indian Food Made Easy. As a result, I'm proud to say I made my first successful Indian-style dish! Anjum made lamb and chicken tandoori wraps in one of the season one episodes, and I made just the chicken part as a kebab this week. I made the yogurt sauce the night before and marinated the chicken overnight. (The recipe on the website is for lamb; on the show, Anjum used the same base for both chicken and lamb, but amped up the spices for the lamb since it's a stronger meat. I like strong flavors, so I used the full flavored sauce for chicken). The result is an instantly recognizable flavor profile that grills or bakes easily. I could see the skewers easily translating as an appetizer as well.

Fish Tacos and Green Guacamole

Serendipity! I dvred Good Eats: American Classics VIII: Tacos last week and before I watched it, received the Central Market circular advertising a tilapia special. I added tilapia and taco ingredients to my menu planning list and my husband asked, "Are you going to make the fish tacos from Good Eats this week?" Aha! The episode turned out to be exactly what I was envisioning on my shopping list. When it came time to make the tacos, we skipped the complex tortilla preparation/homemade crema and just went with simple queso fresca and Nigella's green guacamole. I tasted the marinade after I prepared it and I was alarmed-- it is pungent. But cooked off and paired together with the flaky white fish, it added a lot of flavor without overwhelming the fish with hot spice. We made the guacamole extra lime-y to complement the fish. Yummy.

Note: I'm not sure that I would wholeheartedly recommend the guacamole on its own with chips, as I love a thick dip with a strong onion-y and tomato-y flavor for that, but as a complement to an entree, this was perfect. I may make it again with my Enchilados Camerones-- I'll be using up the queso fresca on that recipe later this weekend!

Peanut Butter Mango Chicken

All right, I can't find the original recipe for this one online-- it's from Men's Health, circa 2006. It's ridiculously easy and apparently not terrible for you. Grill chicken, then top with the peanut butter sauce, as follows:

Mix 4 tablespoons peanut butter*, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 clove garlic, minced and 1 tablespoon of honey in a small bowl. Microwave, stirring occasionally, until melted (30-60 seconds).

Serve with a side of diced mango. We generally use frozen mango to keep this as a pantry meal.

*Note: natural peanut butter tastes fine in this recipe, but doesn't melt as smoothly. It's solely an appearance issue, but I wouldn't try it until you know you like this recipe.

North African Meatballs

Melissa D'Arabian's North African Meatballs from her first season of Ten Dollar Dinners were on our weeknight dinner list last week. Prep took a little longer than I would have liked; it's the forming of the meatballs that kill you! I made mine a little too large and ended up closer than 20 to 32-- as a result, the meatballs didn't hold together well. Next time I may try to make them smaller, but I may also try and bake them in a mini muffin tin instead of cooking in a skillet. I think they'll stay together better and will also be healthier since they won't be cooked in oil. If I do that, I'll start with the meatballs and make the sauce while they are cooking. The good news? The sauce has an amazing sweet/spicy flavor. Served with some boxed couscous, this tasted like exotic takeout and definitely not like inexpensive ground beef and tomatoes!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Spaghetti Bolognese is my favorite thing about fall. There is literally nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon than to sit on the couch, watch football and smell this sauce cook. It's drizzling out today, so I almost feel like we're there.

The only tricks to this recipe are time and a big pot. It takes a while to prep all of the ingredients, and then a few hours for the flavors to come together. After we eat, I'll also typically put together a lasagna with some of the leftover sauce and put it in the freezer. So for the two of us, this recipe will last for 4-5 meals.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

I have a couple of different rosemary roasted potato recipes that I use. Rosemary roasted potatoes are a great simple side that really showcase potatoes without outshining your main dish. This Barefoot Contessa version takes longer to make as you only bake the potatoes, as opposed to boiling and baking a la Jamie Oliver. However, it's a great company dinner side because you can assemble it a few hours in advance, put it in the oven an hour before, and focus on cleaning the kitchen. By the time your guests arrive, the only evidence is the smell of rosemary.

$30 Chocolate Chip Cookies

The title is only kind of a joke-- the chocolate disks called for by this famed NY Times recipe will be around $12 at Central Market, plus when you add in the specialty flours, the ample amount of butter and sea salt, you end up with not cheap cookies. I have to put in this warning, because once you make these and serve them to your family and friends, they will refuse to eat any other kind of chocolate chip cookies you make. These cookies literally ooze chocolate and fall apart in your hands. They are actually the best chocolate chip cookies in the whole world.

Roasted Chicken and Bow Tie Pasta Salad

I have kind of a crazy obsession with chicken salad. This Cooking Light pasta is basically a waldorf chicken salad pasta, and you have to think of it like that to not think that adding grapes to pasta sounds ridiculous. I cooked the chicken breasts ahead of time in a crock pot, but there's a decent amount of mise en place here so it still takes 30 minutes or so to make even if you have a fancy instant boil burner. Additionally, the pasta is better room temperature or cold, so allow a few minutes for your pasta to cool down. Add a bit of oil to the bow ties to keep them from sticking if you want them to cool while you assemble the rest of the dish (as opposed to preparing and sticking in the fridge).

Creamy White Bean and Herb Dip

From the depths of my recipe file (Feb/Mar 2009 issue of Fine Cooking), bean dip that looks like hummus!

This bean dip recipe is versatile and easy. I used bagel chips and crudites as dippers, and one friend also suggested it as a sandwich spread. The dip has a good flavor, but not so much flavor that you'd have to stay away from seasoned dippers. Note, though, that I left out the anchovy filet because it seemed ridiculous to use one anchovy filet and throw the rest of the filets in the can away. I do have one green bean recipe that secretly uses anchovies, so I may try the dip with anchovies the next time I make that. It will stay good and taste good for several days.

Most important thing about this recipe: the "serves 6 to 8" is misleading. I'd make half a recipe unless you are (a) actually serving 20 people and (b) have no other dips or snacks to serve them.

Oven Roasted Beef Brisket and Barbeque Sauce

Two recipes for the price of one!

First, the brisket. Brisket was on special at Central Market this week, so I sought out recipes from the Food Network website and found this highly rated Paula Deen recipe for the oven. The amount of spices was, to say the least, alarming. Once I passed the spice mountain hurdle, the recipe was nearly foolproof, even though it didn't provide a meat temperature. To cover the pan, I used foil, which is fairly treacherous with a hot roasting pan. My burned arm would like for me to brainstorm a new solution for new time.

Second, the barbeque sauce (which I refuse to spell "barbecue"). As it turn out, the brisket was delicious just dipped in pan juices, but the barbeque sauce served to add a nice tang. Both Real Simple and bon appetit featured homemade barbeque sauces this month and I tried the Real Simple version first. This version is sweet and vinegary, although a little more on the vinegary side. I've determined that it would be fantastic on meatloaf.

Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Blondies

One of the gems on the new Cooking Channel is Rachel Allen: Bake! While many of the Food Network shows will feature desserts, there are fewer regular series that focus on them. Rachel Allen is a charming British woman who finally convinced me to like blondies! I'd never had any blondie that could top my favorite chocolate brownies until I tried these. To be clear, they are heavy on the peanut butter, so "blondie" may be a stretch-- they're really a thick peanut butter cookie.

Three-Cheese Mushroom and Spinach Calzone

I used to be a vegetarian for six years. I was a terrible vegetarian; I ate a lot of cheese, french fries and chocolate. These calzones would have fit the bill. Now, I say calzones because I made four individual calzones as opposed to one large calzones and cooked the calzones for a few minutes less. Since there are just two of us, we eat a lot of leftovers and making four individual calzones enabled us to easily package the extras in a brown bag lunch. I used the frozen pizza dough from Central Market-- it's next to the pizzas in the freezer section and is softly garlic-flavored. Next time, I may substitute mozzarella for fontina; I doubt I could taste the difference and it'll be cheaper.

4/10/11 update: tonight, substituted 1/2 lb. of hot italian sausage for the spinach and omitted the fennel seeds and red pepper flakes-- worked well. Also, learned that fontina is easier to grate if you freeze first-- 15-20 minutes.

Grilled Chicken with Garlic-Herb Dressing

I suppose there are herbs in this Tyler Florence recipe, but the true heart of the grilled chicken marinade is the roasted garlic, which is also a handy thing to snack on while you cook. (If you've never roasted garlic before, the recipe has great simple directions. There's no need to peel the garlic before roasting.) I've never bothered with either the grilled lemons or the radicchio. This may mean that my chicken is not truly "ultimate." Instead, I've used this as a quick company grilling dish. I'll make the marinade the night before and use bone-in breasts so that every piece cooks evenly and there's less of a need to monitor once they are on the grill.

Chocolate Lovers' Brownies

My all-time favorite classic brownie recipe has an unlikely origin-- it's from the Disney Family Cookbook, and I've been using it for at least 15 years. The 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate in addition to the unsweetened chocolate make for a sweeter brownie. These brownies are so overwhelmingly chocolate-y there is no need for frosting or topping other than a shake of powdered sugar. Serve with lots of milk :)

Southwestern Chicken Salad

This southwestern chicken salad is one of those things I would pay for at a restaurant or in the prepared foods aisle at Central Market, but would stupidly never think of making for myself, save some prodding from Real Simple (July 2010 issue). It would probably even be called "Southwestern Chicken Salad" at Corner Bakery, or maybe "Chicken Fajita Salad" at Chili's. I digress--I used cut up chicken breasts instead of rotisserie chicken; I would advise just making extra chicken with whatever method you're using and then toss it in. The black beans were the best part, and I ended up adding more since the recipe called for less than a whole can. Finally, I used a plain whole wheat tortilla instead of chips because I had it on hand. A corn tortilla or tortilla strips or anything else would easily work.

Potato Salad with Bacon and Parsley

This June 2009 Real Simple recipe for potato salad with bacon and parsley has become an instant classic in our house (and, seriously, that June 2009 issue was a real winner!). This salad has all of the flavor of a classic mustard potato salad, but it's light enough to be truly called a salad, and not a heavy side. The addition of the bacon elevates the recipe into something almost gourmet. One note: children apparently are not fans of the red wine vinegar. Good thing I am.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

From the same alluring Real Simple picnic article as the oatmeal-raspberry bars, here's the sweet and spicy chicken. To start: I was confused by the direction that the chicken should be cut into 10 pieces. We went ahead and did an 8-piece cut (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs and 2 wings). The premiere of Top Chef: D.C. used the 8-piece method in the quickfire challenge, so I'm sticking with it. If you want to do a 10-piece method, see the illustration here. Otherwise, this is a simple spice rub that you could likely prepare ahead of time, then quickly rub onto the chicken prior to baking. Although the spice rub looks like a small amount, it is more than enough to cover all of the chicken pieces. I rubbed the spices underneath the skin as well as on top of the skin. The name is so descriptive I don't have much more to add!

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Carrots, Onions and Garlic

As of late, I've become a HUGE roast pork fan. Seriously, it has replaced my trusty standby, pot roast with french onion soup mix, as the #1 most desirable roast meat at my house. And it's all because of this Fine Cooking recipe, which absolutely kills in its simplicity. This is THE dinner if you're a nervous cook and your mother-in-law is coming over, because it's easy, can be started in advance and gives you plenty of time to clean your kitchen while it's in the oven. (It's also truly great, though, if you don't care what shape your kitchen is in and you have the ability and desire to turn the pan drippings into pork gravy). I have actually strongly considered buying a 6 3/4 to 7 lb. roast for the two of us, based solely on the idea of pulled pork leftovers, but haven't found anything larger than 3 1/2 lbs. As such, I cooked for around 3 hours at 300 to get to a solid 165-170 degrees. I skipped the last step, breaking up the pork, and instead just put the vegetables in for the extra time at 375 degrees. The vegetables need the full amount of time in the recipe to soften.

Confessions: I have made this dish twice, and neither time did I let the pork sit overnight. I did let it sit at room temp both times.

Next pork stop: the Porchetta-Style Roast Pork in bon appetit's June 2010 issue. Can't wait!

Stir-Fried Beef and Sugar Snap Peas With Sesame Oil and Seeds

First, to get this out of the way, the point of this Good Appetite recipe from the NY Times is that you, at home, should make it with humanely-raised, grass feed beef. Right. My sell on this really is, good Asian food you can make yourself at home with fresh ingredients you can control, which may or may not include the beef.

As with the large difference in price between grass-fed and other beef, there was a large difference of opinion in our household on this one... we both loved the green, fresh, crunchy sugar snap peas, which are really the star here. We both loved the light, delicate pan sauce and pairing it with the hot sriracha sauce. I loved the dish overall; my husband thought the meat needed more flavor (I think maybe he wanted the grass fed). He suggested that the origin of his problem was the size of the beef strips: the recipe dictates 1/4" thick, and mine were probably more like 1/3". Next time (there will be a next time!) I'm letting him slice.

Lemony Grilled Lamb Kebabs with Peppers and Onions and Mint and Scallion Relish

Again with my attempts to vary proteins... these two recipes were a part of Real Simple's June 2010 mediterranean spread. The smartest thing about the kebab recipe was to keep the vegetables and the lamb as separate grilling items, as opposed to putting them on one kebab. Love the look of a colorful kebab, but it's difficult to pull off even cooking of each part. The hardest part of this recipe was carving up the lamb boneless leg. Navigating around the fat and connective tissue made me feel like I was on Grey's Anatomy. The most recent (June 2010) bon appetit actually had a prep school on trimming this piece of meat, which was probably the worst "how to" ever, as it didn't really give any further direction than, "navigate with your knife around the fat and connective tissue." But I digress. The real star here is the mint and scallion relish (note: unless you chop as fast as Jamie Oliver, you cannot whip this up while the kebabs are on the grill-- they cook fast!!!). Think of it more like a dipping oil, and add some soft pita to your grocery list so you can finish the relish once you've eaten your lamb kebab.

Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil

So, not everything I make goes into the blog. Sometimes I'm starving and frantic and forget to snap a photo. Other times, the recipe completely bombs for whatever reason (hello, Jamie Oliver's favourite curry sauce from Happy Days with the Naked Chef). This recipe almost fell into the latter category, but I gave it a judge's save.

Here's the deal: I've mentioned before (here and here) that I love Giada. Love her. Love her because her recipes are so, so, so reliable. Make it the first time for company reliable. As such, I started cooking the Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil from Giada's Kitchen without intensely studying it. I was humming along well into the third paragraph when I realized that I had reserved a cup of the pasta cooking water (as directed in paragraph 2) but had no clue where it went, as the recipe did not so indicate. Panicked, I threw it in with the cooked linguine, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Immediately it became clear that that was a mistake. I don't know where the pasta cooking water goes, but it does not go back in the pasta. [ed.: Actually, now that I've seen the online version of the recipe I do know: "some" should be added after the addition of the lemon oil to bring the pasta to the desired consistency.] I hastily drained some of it out, but flavor dilution was an obvious concern. With this in mind, I ate the pasta and was not wowed. My husband, aware of the pasta water disaster but somewhat removed from the situation, liked it fine. Flash forward to the next day, eating the pasta for lunch. The reasons for selecting the recipe came back to me: good warm or good cold, incorporates enough veggies to make this a one-dish meal and light enough for summertime.

I'm planning on trying it again-- maybe with frozen shrimp this time, so at least if it fails I won't have spent 30 minutes peeling and deveining.

8/12 update: made it again WITHOUT adding any pasta water and it was a success! The peppery taste of the arugula really popped against the lemon flavor.

Halibut with Citrusy Tomatoes and Capers

My husband loves to do things like go to the fish counter, ask what's fresh that day and then make up a recipe on the spot. I cannot do that (hence this blog's title, "I Cook the Recipes"). I like going to the store with a set list of ingredients to pick up for a week of cooking. Either way works, but where we've really run into problems is a combo of the two-- he goes to the store and improvises and I'm left cooking. Panic at this predicament has led to a number of failed preparations of halibut, which I love and which is not cheap, people.

The foregoing was the reason I pulled this heart-healthy halibut recipe out of Real Simple's November 2009 issue. The list of ingredients is short enough that if he picks out fresh halibut at the counter, I can do a quick memory recall and grab tomatoes and OJ to complete the dish. Added bonus for picky eaters: the substantial topping makes a non-fishy fish even less so. Next time we make this, I want to pick up a good crusty bread to sop up the extra tomatoes and sauce.

Oatmeal-Raspberry Bars

This recipe for Oatmeal-Raspberry Bars is one that's been floating around in my recipe file for awhile-- since June 2009, to be precise. It was in a great feature for summer picnic food in Real Simple. I immediately recalled it when Central Market had a $2.99 raspberry sale last week! These bars are the same basic concept as the Corner Bakery raspberry bars, but with the addition of oatmeal and fresh raspberries. In my mind, this makes this a healthy dessert (even though my husband tasted one and his first question was, "how much sugar is in these?!") I made a change when I made these and used the whole pint of raspberries. Substituting in baking was obviously a bad idea; they tasted great, but were a little watery because of the extra fresh raspberry. C'est la vie. For the seedless raspberry jam, I used seedless raspberry spread -- it was more jelly-like than jam, but given the whole raspberries I think this works. I'm excited to try out other berries in the future-- blueberries in particular seem like an easy switch-- and maybe a low-sugar or Splenda jam. Oh wait... I just said I would stop substituting...

Flexible 4-Step Chicken (Rustic Lemon-Onion)

My mom is obsessed with Melissa d'Arabian. Like, facebook friends obsessed. She's recommended quite a few of Melissa's recipes to me. This one, the Flexible 4-Step Chicken from last year's season finale, is specifically geared to be a quick weeknight meal. The most genius part about it is the idea of slicing the chicken crosswise to cook. Once pounded out and sliced, the chicken will cook in about 10 minutes (5 minutes a side) on medium-high heat. I also went ahead and added the chicken back to the pan at the end for a couple minutes to really get the sauce to set.

Now that I've made this, I really want to go back and re-watch the season finale to hear her other suggestions of items to swap out!

Pasta with Asparagus, Pancetta and Pine Nuts

Low-cal! Fast! Bacon! Good leftover!

There probably isn't anything more to say other than... this recipe is a keeper! I found it in the "Dinner Tonight" section of the Cooking Light website. It was also the first time I had ever heard of "cavatappi" pasta-- it's a combo between macaroni and spirals. Because I love crispy pancetta, I cooked it a little longer-- about 8 minutes -- and flipped the pancetta about halfway through so it would brown on both sides.

Confession time: I added a little extra pancetta. I think it still qualifies as "lower cal."

Black Bean Soup with Cumin and Jalapeno

Here's the crazy thing about black bean soup: it is really just healthy chili! I know! The trick is that when you don't call it chili you're not thinking about the things you're missing like you do when you eat veggie chili or even turkey chili. Instead, you're thinking that you can't believe how you can get a smooth, thick, yes, even creamy! texture with no dairy products or dairy substitutes. One genius quick-fix I read in the comments to the recipe was to use a can of Ro-Tel or similar instead of the canned tomatoes/fresh chopped jalapeno (I used a can of mixed tomatoes/Hatch green chiles). If you're already comfortable with the preservatives in canned tomatoes, all the Ro-Tel does is shave off time and make this a pantry meal. Also, if you have an immersion blender and you didn't, for example, stick it in the dishwasher to hide it because company was coming over and then forget to take it out before your housekeeper came and ran said dishwasher, you should use the immersion blender instead of the regular blender and just stop while the soup is still slightly chunky.

The only thing I wish about this recipe is that it photographed better...

Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Marmellatta

I am not the world's biggest pork fan. No "other white meat" for me. But my husband's tolerance for chicken breast is as low as the price of fresh fish is high, and so I've been trying to find ways to serve up this lean alternative. (except... now that red meat is okay, and bacon and sausage are bad... my world is rocked and I may need to rethink). The best thing about Giada's Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Marmellata (besides the fact that she signed my Giada's Kitchen cookbook with the recipe in it!) is that you could put the marmellata on literally anything and it will taste fantastic. It's the kind of thing you see in specialty shops in a very small, very expensive jar, and after you have a sample on crostini you pay the $10 and have to have it. The third best thing about the marmellata is that it is still delicious if you don't exactly follow the directions and cook the onions for 1 hour instead of 2. Same with the pork rub. The fourth best thing, since we're counting, is that instead of 4 pork chops, you can substitute 3 pork chops and 1 bone-in chicken breast :) Marital harmony, people.

Chicken Cacciatore

I think I've mentioned previously my love for Giada's recipes and how well they turn out. Everyday Italian is the cookbook that started it all for me. Every dish in it tastes exactly like you expect it would-- classic, Italian-American cuisine. Chicken Cacciatore, though, was never a meal I ordered at a restaurant and wow, was I missing out! The sauce, which is really more like a stew broth, picks up tang from the veggies and depth from the chicken. I've made this dish as called for, with both thighs and breasts, and with only one or the other. If you go the latter route, don't change the portion size; just cut down on the protein overall and pick up some crusty bread to soak up the broth. And of course, this dish is great with fresh grated parmesan on top.

Chicken Chow Mein

Oh, Jamie Oliver... you make me want to eat healthy AND save the world :)

We definitely watched Jamie's Food Revolution and Chicken Chow Mein was one of his early recipes. The recipe is intimidating because there are so many ingredients but -- surprise! -- the veggies were fairly inexpensive and the dish comes together quickly (although the recipe underestimates the time for 1) cooking the chicken and 2) getting the sauce to really deepen to a golden brown color). We used a jalapeno pepper, adding just enough spice and extra mushrooms, because we love them. The first time, we made it for the two of us and the second time, I made it just for me and had leftovers, as this dish keeps well.

Chickpea Tagine with Chicken and Apricots

Any harsh words I had for the Minimalist the other day completely evaporated when I tried the April 9 recipe this past Friday. True, he still has the problem of claiming moderately difficult recipes are 30-minute meals, but his recipe twist on a tagine (an hour to an hour 15 to prepare) hit the right tone by giving instructions for a simple(r), healthy all-in-one meal. The dark meat chicken itself was incredibly flavorful, but the sauce, similar to an Indian gravy, was divine and we could have eaten it on its own. Every time I took a bit and tasted the sweet apricots or the piquant ginger or the rich cinnamon, I smiled at the unique flavor. Even better, the ingredients as a whole made an incredibly healthy dish. Be sure and let the bulgar sit for a few minutes after cooking to let it expand and absorb the sauce. No bulgar? The dish would taste just as good over couscous.