So Smug, Yet So Delicious

At the top of our weekly menus lately is sautéed tilapia fillets with a pan sauce, sautéed spinach and a baked rice or barley. It’s a pretty plain meal on the surface: fish, green, grain. But put together, I am really pleased with it. The white wine vinegar pan sauce is vinegary and mustardy; the lemon-caper sauce, delightfully acidic; … Continue reading →

Roasted Veg & a New Cookbook

I am a sucker for roasted veg and for new cookbooks from Cook’s Illustrated. I heard Jack Bishop and one of the other chefs (I can’t remember her name) from CI on Fresh Air talking about The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook and I bought it immediately.  We are omnivores, but if I cook more vegetarian dishes, … Continue reading →

Chocolate Stout Cake

This winter, man. I think for a lot of us we have an extended case of the winter blues. Certainly for my family we are in the throes of an “EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE” state of being. We all have cabin fever. School schedules have been intermittent. The only constants are that we are all here in … Continue reading →

Chickpea Casserole

I made this once a long time ago (and then again on Monday), and honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t made it more often. This chickpea casserole is so good and fresh and lemony. And super easy to make ahead. Chickpea Casserole with Lemon, Herbs and Shallots from Faith Durand’s Not Your Mother’s Casseroles … Continue reading →

This (and Next) Week’s Menu

This week I thought I would try planning my menu for 2 weeks instead of just one in the hopes that I can get away with only one trip to the grocery store. I don’t mind grocery shopping every week-I actually really like grocery shopping-but I tend to spend the same amount of money per … Continue reading →

Cheesy Baked Rice

I go through bursts of cooking. I’ll plan out a delicious, healthy week of new recipes and then spend the next week cooking easy things. So right now we’re in a week of easy things. And the other evening I had planned to have salmon out of the freezer (Costco) and whatever vegetables we had … Continue reading →

Bok Choy Brown Rice Salad

This bok choy/brown rice salad was super easy to make and great to make ahead. It made a ton – I had to break out my giant bowl (usually reserved for things like double meatloaf or clam ball mixing) to mix it all. That said, even though it made a party’s worth of salad my … Continue reading →

On the Menu This Week

Here’s what we’re eating this week! There are several recipes I haven’t tried before. And it’s almost all vegetarian, with the exception of Wednesday’s salad, because we have some leftover chicken to use. If we didn’t already have chicken on hand I probably would just leave that out. I’m also using 3 different recipes from … Continue reading →

Chili Week

This weekend I made chili to feed a bunch of family before we all went to my son’s class play. So, I made my go-to chili recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook. I am a fan of simple chili. Straightforward. I’m not interested in adding cocoa powder or espresso powder or vegetables or many varieties … Continue reading →

Taco Night

Tacos are one of the few dinners that I can make that my entire family eats. They may not all eat all parts of it, but I do not have to fix something special for each of the kids.  Our taco night menu has been evolving and one of the best new additions is a … Continue reading →