Posts Tagged ‘winter’
warm chickpea salad with tahini
My mom and I have been planning the Christmas dinner menu lately and she made the observation that we hardly ever care about the main protein in a dinner – our family is alllll about the side dishes.
I don’t think we’re an anomaly, though. Let’s face it – at Thanksgiving, people aren’t drooling over the turkey. They’re eyeing the mashed potatoes and stuffing and cranberries and rolls and… you get the point. 9 times out of 10, the sides make or break the dinner. And a side like this will make the dinner.
I actually made this for a potluck at work weeks and weeks ago but it would be just perfect to have at a Christmas brunch or even as a vegetarian main at dinner (it’s that filling!) The dressing is so warm and nutty and the earthiness of the squash and chickpeas just makes it a wonderful winter comfort food.
butternut squash and kale baked risotto
So apparently I have a kale and/or butternut squash addiction right now. Let’s just chalk it up to winter leaving me with little to work with.
I saw this recipe for Martha’s version of baked risotto in an Everyday Food recently and was of course, intrigued. I love love love Ina’s version so much so I figured giving another spin on it a try would be fun. But of course since I’m me I basically took the ingredients from Martha’s and completely changed the method so it would result in what I imagined to be a much more creamy, well, risotto texture. A lot of the online reviews of Martha’s said the result was like baked rice with little moisture so I added more stock, changed the order of when you put it in, etc. The only thing I wish I would have done different is cut the squash much larger – mine sort of dissolved as I stirred up the rice after I pulled it out of the oven which gave a fantastic texture and flavor, but I missed the big hunks I was hoping for.
Still! This is another easy, delicious dish that can feed an army and comes together in about 45 minutes. Score!
beef tagine with butternut squash
One of my favorite Christmas gifts has become my subscription to Cooking Light. I always enjoyed flipping through the magazine at work but now since I’ve started to cook from it I have truly come to love it. Granted the seasoning is always underdone for me (easily fixed) and many times I stray from recipes to scale down servings or make them cheaper, but it’s full of wonderful ideas and recipes.
I know I just did another stew but I can’t help but be drawn to dishes like this when I’m trying to eat healthier and still want to feel full. At under 300 calories per serving (not including the tabbouleh) it really is a delight. This poor man’s version of Moroccan tagine is quick, cheap, and tasty. Period. I love the spicy-sweet flavor profile and as lame as it sounds, I have totally fallen in love with the Near East brand’s boxed tabbouleh salad. This came together in under 40 minutes and I see myself making this dish many times in the near future. And I hope you do, too.
kale and chickpea stew
As my friend H and I were sipping cocktails and noshing on fried goods during New Year’s Eve I brought up the subject of resolutions and how I didn’t have any. The classic “eat healthier” idea came up but we both agreed it’s hard to control that when you work in a test kitchen. I mentioned the idea of eating raw or doing a ‘detox day’ once a week and that’s where the motivation to cook this dish came from. It’s a detox dinner – packed full of vegetables, nutrients, lean protein, sits easy on the stomach and comes together quickly.
Kale and dark greens are always at the top of health food lists since they’re packed full of vitamins and nutrients and get an extra bonus for being dirt cheap so they’re also great for eating on a budget. This whole dish has a very light, yet earthy feel to it. The bacon gives it this wonderful reminiscent aroma of pork and greens but saves you the calories and heavy food guilt. Now let’s just hope I can keep this up the rest of the year…
warm dijon lentils
I know – it’s not going to win any beauty contests. But trust me, it’s delicious.
I’m still cooking my way through Ina’s new book and this dish just screamed hearty winter warm-me-up fare to me, so it moved to the top of the list. Like everything else in her book (so far): it’s easy. Just simmer some lentils with aromatic vegetables and then toss with a super creamy Dijon-red wine vinaigrette. It may sound too simple to be fabulous and yes, it’s not the prettiest thing in the world, but you won’t be able to stop eating it.
I thinks Ina lists this as a sidedish, but it’s just so hearty and rich it easily worked as a dinner for me (two nights in a row). Just serve it with some good bread (a pretzel roll was my choice) and light red wine.
