I actually found some pretty Meyer lemons at my local grocery store this week and I snatched them up without a plan for using them. But when I started making a vinaigrette, I knew their subtle sweetness would play well with a simple salad. The picture is of our simple dinner of some store-bought sauerkraut pierogis, a dollop of sour cream and a salad dressed with the vinaigrette and topped with homemade croutons made from olive bread. Yummy. Dressing recipe below.
I’ve been thinking about individual lasagnas for a long time because everyone loves the crispy and burnt corner piece and if lasagnas were baked in little dishes, they’d be crispy and burnt all around. So, that’s what I was going for. I also had some butternut squash, arugula and prosciutto on hand, so I opted for more of a non-traditional lasagna.
When I took them out of the oven, I was afraid I had over-crisped them and they would be way too difficult to eat. They were super crispy, but I kind of loved them that way. The top layer of the pasta was crisp and chewy like a cracker, and the insides were sweet and salty and sturdy. Now I really want to try it out with more traditional ricotta, red meat sauce and mozzarella lasagnas. Maybe next week.
Last weekend I did something I’ve never done before. Something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile, but have been too intimidated to take on. I roasted a chicken. A whole chicken. And guess what? It was really easy! It took me about 10 minutes to prepare it and toss it in a pan with potatoes, yellow carrots and garlic cloves. Then it was into the oven for a while and out came a whole dinner. All I had to do was wait around, peek inside the oven from time to time, and then dig in.
I’ve had many a roasted chicken from take-out places, the grocery store and Whole Foods, but I’d never tasted one with such juicy meat and crispy skin. Obviously, I’d never had such a fresh-from-the-oven treat. It’s true that it wasn’t quite as tasty the next day when the meat had dried up and the skin had turned into the unappetizingly brown soggyness you get at the store (the kind you should definitely peel off and throw away). The roasted vegetables were also pretty delicious. The potatoes were browned and toasted and the carrots had caramelized nicely in the bottom of the pan.
A roast chicken definitely should be eaten moments after it’s taken out of the oven, but the leftover meat is good for tacos, chicken salad, soups, etc. I don’t recommend eating the leftover skin.
As if Chorizo nachos weren’t enough, there was more to Sunday’s Superbowl feast. So, I have a guilty pleasure. I absolutely love boneless buffalo wings, which are essentially chicken fingers with buffalo sauce smothered on them. Gross, I know, but we all have our weaknesses and this is (one of) mine. That said, I never order them because I know that they’re over processed, previously frozen, fried and terribly bad for me. I thought that I’d try to make my own, but didn’t really expect much. I used naturally raised boneless chicken thighs, whole wheat panko breadcrumbs and organic (I swear!) buffalo sauce that I found at The Fresh Market.
After a quick brine, I breaded the thighs and threw them in the oven (ok, the Crisper) for 20 minutes and then covered them in sauce. Voila! Homemade buffalo wings! And they were better, much better, than any sampler platter at a sports bar. A perfect Superbowl Sunday treat.
They were also pretty darn tasty the next day on a sprouted whole wheat bun with some reduced fat blue cheese and greens.
Superbowl Sunday means nachos. At least it does to my husband. He also thinks anything is better with chorizo on it, and I tend to agree. In the interest of my health, I wanted to make a healthier version of nachos. No fried chips, no full-fat cheese, no greasy ground beef. Instead, I used these amazing Three Grain Tortillas chips I found at The Fresh Market that are made with corn, cracked wheat and brown rice. These chips were really unique and tasty and I want to go back and get some more (like, tonight). Some chopped chorizo, green onions, spicy black bean dip, light jalepeno cheddar and a bunch of chives finish them off. These took me about 15 minutes to make and they were totally awesome.
Unfortunately, the Pats were a bit less awesome.
I’m still in love with my Crisper. I especially love crisping polenta with cheese on it to make “fries” or as an alternative to starchy sides. If I want to crisp my polenta (instead of making the creamy, mashed-potato kind), I use the store-bought version that comes in a tube, which I’ll either slice into rounds like I did in this recipe or cut into smaller fry-like sticks. Both are equally delicious. The fries go best with fried eggs, sandwiches or a big bowl of homemade chili. The rounds are tastiest when topped with yummy goodness. In this case, caramelized onions and sausage with heirloom tomatoes and arugula. The whole thing came together in about 30 minutes. It was cheesy and spicy, sweet and salty and had a great textural contrast.
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