Posts Tagged ‘savory’
orzo salad with feta + balsamic bbq chicken
Long time, no post! Sorry bout that, folks – took some time to get my new life organized but hey! Lease is signed, moving truck is packed, and I’m almost ready to go. One last dinner at home first, though.
I’ve never been a huge fan of spring. It’s my least favorite season, mostly due to the rain, mud, flip-flopping weather, and return of allergy season. The one saving grace is that the best produce of the season is finally en route, gardens everywhere finally start blooming, and better yet, summer is almost here!
This is my favorite summer dinner and I made it a little early to celebrate my new job with my family. The orzo salad is a bit fussy and has lots of side steps (plus it’s best made a day in advance), and the chicken is also best marinated for at least a day, so the whole meal is something you really can’t just throw together, but it’s so worth the wait.
Tangy feta and and sun-dried tomatoes tossed with crunchy arugula and pine nuts (plus orzo), this side dish is so refreshing and summery, plus open to any interpretation or additions, it really is my favorite side dish of the season. And although I am usually a complete Arthur Bryants devotee, making a special BBQ sauce for a special dinner can be fun, and I’ve always loved this tangy and sweet version from Giada deLaurentiis. Reduced balsamic vinegar is one of the best things on the planet, so incorporating it into BBQ sauce… well… it’s just plain awesome.
caramelized onion & sun dried tomato quiche
Hey! I’m alive.. just crazy busy with my relocation and whatnot. I’m staying here in Kansas City with my folks for a bit while I transition and of course, that means plenty of gentle nudgings and offhand mentions of how such-and-such dish sounds so good and oh wouldn’t it be nice to have this for dinner. In other words, being home is being my mom’s personal chef, and tonight she suggested quiche so I just happened to make it.
I know this is extremely similar to the goat cheese tart, but I’ve said before how I a) love breakfast for dinner and b) love the ease of dishes like this, especially when you use a prepared pie crust. And, well, I was going nuts not posting anything! So enjoy!
kluski kapusta po (noodles with cabbage)
Ok, this dish did not start as kluski kapusta po at all. I had this recipe of ribs cooked in cabbage and kraut bookmarked for ages and realized I had all the ingredients except the actual ribs (which were on sale at my grocer) and cabbage, which is also cheap, so I went ahead and made it.
And sadly, I was glad I didn’t spend much money on the dish. It wasn’t bad per se, just good. Okay. Fine. The cabbage-kraut mixture was surprisingly mild (see: bland) and the ribs were nice and tender, but really fatty. The (small amount) of meat I did get off them was very tasty, but it’s one of those dishes where you have to eat a little bit of everything in one bite for the dish to work. The components on their own were just okay, but together pretty good. So an idea came to mind.
I decided to make an omnivore version of kluski kapusta po, a traditional Polish noodle-cabbage dish where onions and cabbage are cooked in butter and tossed with hot noodles. For my version, I shredded the pork, heated up the cabbage-kraut mixture, stirred in some sour cream, and then tossed the mixture with hot egg noodles. And it finally worked! So I thankfully don’t have to tag this a failure – more like a salvage. Victory is sweet! (and delicious!)
easiest pea soup
I’m feeling much better, but haven’t quite graduated to chewing yet, so I whipped this up tonight for dinner. Although I desperately wished I could have some crunchy toasts with it (oh, crunchy food… how I miss you…), it was still incredibly delicious and smooth as silk.
All you do is warm frozen peas in stock, blend them with some balsamic vinegar, season, and eat. A bit of fresh goat cheese adds a rich touch without being too aggressive, and the whole thing comes together in 15 minutes. It may sound too simple to be delicious, but so many great soups are as simple as this, so just embrace it! Now excuse me while I retreat to the couch and my glorious prescription pain killers once more.
open-faced snapper sandwich
A quick post for a quick Friday dinner.
This can be thrown together in 20 minutes, tastes amazing, and could easily be multiplied to cater to dinner for two or a small crowd. All you do is make a quick warm potato salad, sauté some snapper fillets, and pile it high on some thick toasted bread. Inspired by my favorite dish Gordon Ramsay makes on his UK Kitchen Nightmares, he calls it an open-faced sandwich, I just call it delicious.
Warm potato salad.
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