Published by mel on July 30, 2009 in entree and recipe.
This is another one of those quick and easy recipes that requires just 5 ingredients, tastes delicious and is just the thing for a quick lunch or a weeknight dinner. Just sear some chicken in olive oil, add onions, fire-roasted tomatoes and artichoke hearts and simmer for half an hour. Top with some capers and you’ve got a nice, saucy chicken to top polenta, rice, baked potatoes, or pretty much anything.
This is definitely going into the “lazy recipe file” to access whenever I don’t want to prep or stir anything.
Continue reading ‘Easy Artichoke Chicken’
Published by mel on April 14, 2009 in breakfast, entree, recipe and sides & bites.
This week, I’m taking all my inspiration from food magazines. Of course, I can’t just follow a recipe without tweaking it somehow. That would make it far too easy!
I saw this recipe in the first few pages of April’s Gourmet and instantly wanted to try it. I love a good, strong salad dressing. Olive oil, sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard, shallots, tarragon and capers combine for a tangy, salty vinaigrette that’s made for salads and soft-boiled eggs. Spicy arugula and crisp bread round it out for a meal-sized salad.
I made this salad last night and again for lunch today. It’s just the right amount of fancy, healthy and delicious. I can’t get enough!
Continue reading ‘Arugula & Bread Salad, Tarragon Caper Vinaigrette’
Published by mel on March 13, 2009 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
Some people like Pancakes and French Toast powdered with sugar and drenched in maple syrup for breakfast. Me? I can’t handle that much sugar in the morning. Honestly, I can’t ever handle that much sugar. I’m more of an omelet, home fries and hot sauce kind of girl. So, you’d think I’d also be all about bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon and capers. And I am…just not for breakfast. (Most days, anyway.)
So, here’s my take on a deli breakfast for dinner. Swap the bagel with some linguine and the cream cheese for goat cheese and you’ve got all that smoked salmon goodness at a more appropriate hour. This dish only has 5 ingredients, but tastes just right. If you want to lighten up the carbs, add a few handfuls of baby spinach.
Either way, it’s another tasty, easy weeknight meal.
Continue reading ‘Smoked Salmon, Caper & Goat Cheese Pasta’
Published by mel on March 9, 2009 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
Tom has found a new hobby. Whenever he goes to a restaurant, he orders an entree, and if he likes it enough, he comes home and challenges me to recreate it. He’ll say “I had Penne Puttanesca this weekend. It was good, but I bet you can make it better.” Sneaky. Very sneaky. He knows I like a challenge.
So, this weekend I set out to recreate the puttanesca pasta he enjoyed so much. A quick read on wikipedia revealed tons of interesting tidbits about puttanesca — most of which had to do with the origins of the dish’s name. Apparently, no one really knows how this dish came to be named after ladies of the night (to put it nicely). Some say it’s because it’s cheap and quick to prepare, others say that brothel madams made the dish to lure customers into their “shop”, and still others say it’s for reasons too vulgar to mention on a food blog. In the end, no one knows how Puttanesca got its name. And frankly, I’m not sure I care. It’s quite tasty either way.
This simple pasta is inexpensive and comes together in 20 minutes or less, which makes it the ideal candidate for a weeknight dinner (or lazy weekend dinner if you’re sick like me!). Also makes a good Lent Friday dish. Simply saute garlic and dried chiles in olive oil, add tomatoes and anchovies, simmer, then stir in some olives and capers. Toss with pasta and you’ve got a strong and spicy pasta dish that sure to entice.
Continue reading ‘Pappardelle Puttanesca’
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