Archives
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Feb | Apr » | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||
Pizza Carbonara
We love eating pizza at home. I usually buy a pizzeria dough and divide it into 4 pieces to make four individual pizzas. I am always looking to make something new or at least try some new toppings for the pizza.
My daughter likes her usual- tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese and either sauteed mushrooms or black olives. She doesn’t like to mess with perfection and likes to stick to her usual. My husband is very similar- well, he is a bit more adventurous- as long as the pizza has red sauce on it. I love white pizza but am the only one in our family. My favorite is a white pizza with ricotta, spinach and lots of garlic- hmm- that sounds delicious- I could use some right now.
While picking up the pizza dough, I also stopped at the wine store. I couldn’t believe I had run out of wine- completely. As I was running my errands I was thinking what pizza to make for myself. I wanted something white and different. Pasta carbonara came to mind- I love eating it. The problem is that it is full of cream, bacon and eggs- definitely not an option for me these days. I guess once in a while it is okay to eat this stuff- right?. So, I decided to make a pizza carbonara for myself.
I sauteed some pancetta and turned the heat off. I stirred in eggs beaten with half and half (instead of cream). I then poured it all over my already rolled out pizza. Just in a few minutes the pizza crust turned golden brown and the topping rose way high. It looked beautiful. I added a lot of black pepper- that is what comes to mind when I think of carbonara. It was delicious. This would be great for breakfast, lunch or dinner- anytime, really.
Try pizza carbonara next time you want to change it up a bit.
read more …
Chicken Hash- A Pantry Meal
What do you do with leftover chicken? Well, I usually make chicken salad, stuff quesadillas, make soup or fried rice.
This time I wanted to make something different. I kept looking at the leftover chicken breast I had from the day before- and couldn’t come up with anything.
Somehow, after a few minutes, chicken hash came to mind. I envisioned chopped chicken paired with things that were sitting in my vegetable crisper in the fridge. I had green onions, chilies and a red pepper. I also had potatoes and tomatoes in my pantry. I chopped everything up and started cooking. As the base flavor, I used my favorite condiment- Trader Joe’s tomato chutney. I love using it for everything including sandwiches and as a topping for eggs and meats. In this case I added a few tablespoons and it gave the dish a tangy, salty and sweet flavor. I finished it with a dusting of feta cheese and chopped cilantro.
It was such a beautiful dish- multi colored and delicious. I had some ‘bake at home’ baguettes. I baked one and served a green salad with the chicken hash. It was a big success. This meal would be a perfect for a brunch party!
read more …
Bowtie Pasta with Spinach and Chicken
My daughter was having one of her play dates again and two of her friends were coming over and staying for dinner. My daughter loves having her friends over for dinner- “it is so much fun”, she always says. I usually remind her that I have to make something healthy and usually from scratch so it is quite a lot of work me me- but honestly, I enjoy it too. Especially because I get to try out different kid-friendly dishes and see their reactions.
For this particular dinner I needed to make something in advance since I was not going to be home. Our sitter would be giving them their meal. I had two chicken breast on the bone which I decided to roast with the skin on. I shredded the meat once it was nice and juicy after taking the skin off. I bought bowtie pasta to make things a little interesting. I bought baby spinach since I needed the meal to be made in one pot and it also had to be well balanced.
I cooked the pasta and mixed the shredded chicken and baby spinach in the sauce pan. I added some homemade tomato sauce to give the pasta additional yummy flavor. I transferred the pasta into an oven proof dish and mixed in and topped with some shredded mozzarella cheese.
It was simple and quick. Once I got home I was curious to know their reactions. I was told they were all skeptical at first since everything was mixed in together but once they tried it- they liked it. My daughter who is more used to eating such meals thought it was delicious.
Next time you have a dinner play date for your kids- try the bowtie pasta with spinach and chicken.
Top Ten Vinegars To Have In Your Pantry
I love collecting vinegars. They are relatively inexpensive and last a long time. Well, I guess depends how often you use them. I do end up making salad dressing at home but also have a bunch of store bought salad dressings in my fridge. So, the point of this list is not to make you feel guilty if you don’t make your own dressing. Although it is the most easy thing you could do. It takes all of 5 minutes to whip up a yummy dressing. Especially if you have the necessary ingredients- hence the vinegar list.
I recently bought the muscat orange champagne vinegar from Trader Joes. It is delicious. I made a blood orange salad and used this vinegar and it was unbelievable. I paired it with extra virgin olive oil and a bit of honey. The vinegar is very soft and subtle, yet very flavorful.
I would love to know which vinegars you have in your pantry…
- All purpose white vinegar- it really is an all-purpose vinegar. It can be used for cooking and cleaning. If you ever run out of a particular vinegar- use this one.
- White wine vinegar- delicious in any salad dressing and/or a sauce.
- Balsamic vinegar- I use this for everything, mostly an everyday salad dressing. A bit of balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and pepper – just drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and you are done…
- Rice vinegar- Great for stir fry sauces, etc.
- Red wine vinegar- I consider this an all-purpose vinegar as well. Good have.
- Sherry vinegar- Special vinegar- for spanish dishes and to give a kick to your usual salad dressings.
- Malt vinegar- I used it for some Indian recipes.
- Raspberry vinegar- Same as sherry vinegar. Great to have. This goes fabulously well with walnut oil and makes a great salad dressing.
- Champagne vinegar-Special occasion vinegar- love it.
- Apple Cider vinegar- Any time I add apples to a salad, I use this vinegar to make the salad dressing.
Chicken Paprika
I had forgotten about this dish. I grew up eating it. My Mom would make it with green peppers and served it over white rice.
While she was a young girl, she stayed with her brother and sister-in-law in the UK. She learnt a lot of local cooking and one of the dishes my aunt used to make was chicken paprika.
Even after moving to the US, my Mom made this particular chicken dish quite often. I am usually not a big rice eater, but love white rice with this particular dish. As some of you know I am big into healthy eating and brown rice is part of the repertoire- but with this meal white rice tastes the best.
The dish itself is very easy to make. The gravy consists of onion and garlic and the main ingredient is sweet paprika. A pinch of cinnamon brings out the sweetness in the chicken and the peppers. As I mentioned before, my Mom would use green peppers but decided to use one green and one red. It makes a delicious and colorful dish.
My daughter was very curious while I was cooking it. She was a bit put off by the peppers- she doesn’t like them. I told her I would give her the chicken with the rice and one or two pieces of peppers. She loved the chicken and tolerated the peppers. Overall she enjoyed and so did my husband- he thought it was delicious.
Next time you are wondering what to do with the chicken in the fridge- try Chicken Paprika.
read more …
Vegetable Stir Fry
I can’t think of a better way to use up a bunch of left over vegetables in the fridge. I had half a cauliflower head, yellow and red pepper, asparagus and most importantly, I had green onions. I love using them for their mild oniony flavor and beautiful green color.
I doused the cauliflower florets with some tamari and roasted them. I then sauteed the vegetables with ginger and garlic. I went through my pantry and hoisin sauce stood out. I added some rice vinegar and honey to finish off the sauce.
It was simple, quick and most of all delicious. It was a perfect pairing with the sausage fried rice. My daughter ate all the vegetables except the peppers- she does not like them. I have learnt to pick my battles with her. She is such a good eater and everyone is allowed not to like a few things.
Next time you have left over vegetables, try this delicious stir fry.
read more …