Mahi Mahi & Creamy Polenta w/ Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette
This week I cooked dinner with my good friend Andy. He is one of few friends who actually love to cook as well. Like most cooks, we always bicker back and forth when we cook together, thinking that our own technique is the right one. Still, it is always fun.
As shocking as it may be, until this meal I had never eaten polenta. It had been on my list of things to make for quite some time, so I am happy that I finally got to make it. Being the sauce lover that I am, and roasted tomato lover, this recipe caught my eye. My inspiration for this dish came from Emeril Lagasse. His version for this recipe used fennel, but we decided to add asparagus instead. This recipe is great for a romantic dinner, or even just to treat yourself to something delicious!
Blueberry-Lemon Cobbler
I have finally made my first sugar-free, gluten-free dessert! Well, except for the vanilla frozen yogurt that I ate with it…I have to say it was amazing! This recipe shows how easy it is to cut out white sugar and gluten from your desserts without sacrificing any flavor. Of course, you can always make the dessert the old fashioned way if you want.
I was given two bins of blueberries this week by my mom, so of course dessert was on the menu. Conveniently, I saw multiple blueberry dessert recipe posts the day I came home, including one for blueberry cobbler. Cobbler is a great dessert for a small kitchen, because it doesn’t require the rolling of any dough. It is a great dessert for the winter because of the warm gooey fruit. Even in winter, adding vanilla ice cream is definitely recommended.
Pork Involtini w/ Apples & White Bean Spread
This week I finally had a chance to go home and visit my family, and see my brother’s new American Bulldog/Boxer puppy! For me, visit home now consists of doing many loads of laundry (four huge loads this time), cooking with my mom, and playing pool with my dad. This week was especially exciting for me; my mom gave me a lighting kit! Hopefully now my little, yellow-tinted apartment will be easier to photograph my food in. =)
Involtini is great because it gives the cook room to be creative. You can fill involtini with pretty much whatever you desire. We chose a garlic white bean dip that my mom had made for a previous appetizer and added a classic match for pork, apples. This dish was great serves with swiss chard and wild rice.
Salmon in Lemon Brodetto w/ Pea Puree
I finally had a day off of work, which meant I could finally cook for me! After spending the day cooped up doing homework because of the blowing snow outside, I decided to make a semi-fancy dinner for myself as a reward for all of my hard work. =) This dish is plated kind of similar to the Cajun Salmon w/ Spicy Eggplant Salsa that I made a little while back, but has extremely different flavors. So, if that dish didn’t suit your taste, this one just might!
I have to say this might be one of the better things that I have tasted in a bit. The Lemon Brodetto gives the salmon a nice citrus kick and the pea puree tones it down with a rich flavor. I tweaked the original recipe, from FoodNetwork.com, and lowered the measurements for lemon juice. The lemon was just a tiny bit too strong with the original portions. I love how much flavor there is in this dish, plus it is super easy to make!
Honey Barbecue Glazed Chicken
It is interesting to me how quickly my brain can shift my food preferences throughout the day. Each day, sometimes even each hour, I feel like I am changing my mind about what would be good to eat. For those days when you want something sweet for dinner, a honey barbecue glaze is perfect. I think I have come up with a tasty honey barbecue glaze recipe that can easily be tweaked to suit any personal preference; I am looking forward to experimenting with it too! This recipe is great for weeknights, when you do not have much time for dinner. It goes great with Oven Roasted Potatoes as well!
Chipotle-Lime Shrimp Taco Salad w/ Cilantro Vinaigrette
You know those nights when you have an entire meal planned out in advanced, but when dinner time roles around you just don’t feel like eating that oh-so-exciting dish? Well, last night was one of those nights. As delicious as sun-dried tomato and feta stuffed chicken sounded, I just wasn’t in the mood for those flavors. I wanted spice and citrus. I decided to save that for another night. Instead, this is what I came up with.
The cilantro vinaigrette pulls this dish together. It adds a nice tangy flavor that is a great compliment to the spicy shrimp. Roasting the tomatoes gives them move flavor and juice, making this recipe even more delicious! I was planning on eating this with guacamole and salsa, but tasted it and realized it didn’t need any additions and was perfect as is.
Italian Sausage & Tortellini Soup
As I have mentioned numerous times before, I try not to eat pasta when I am not at work. So, to serve with the Double Tomato Bruschetta, I chose this recipe for an Italian sausage soup. Yes, I know that tortellini still counts as pasta, but it is a bit fancier and this recipe doesn’t use very much of it. This soup captures the essence of true Italian flavors- basil, tomato, garlic, oregano, and red wine- and is a great alternative to the typical Italian pasta dinner.
Double Tomato Bruschetta
This week I was asked by friend to cook something Italian for dinner. For me, the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Italian food is pasta. I decided against making pasta, since I eat it at work constantly. Instead, I chose to make this double tomato bruschetta along with an Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup. Bruschetta is easy to make, and is a great appetizer for guests. The addition of sun-dried tomatoes to the bruschetta gives it a different texture and a little bit of a kick. These little snacks were very popular.
Mahi Mahi Tostada w/ Roasted Red Pepper Aioli
I love reading food blogs; I find myself constantly reading through recipes during my free time. I think that is great to find recipes from other people, rather than a recipe website, because it gives life to the recipe and usually puts a story with each dish. I especially love trying recipes from my Mom’s food blog, Cooking With Michele. It is fun to chat about our posts and new recipes; our cooking has brought us much closer throughout the past year and I love it. With that said, here is my tweaked version of my Mom’s Mahi Mahi Tostada recipe.
Pizza Casserole
Recently, I have been thinking about how great it would be to do catering. I have also been cooking for friends quite a bit, which I love. Both things involve cooking for a crowd, which can be hard to do. The more I do it, the more fun it gets. It is hard to think up original recipes for large groups sometimes, so I am really excited to share this one. This week I needed a meal to feed 14 friends. I didn’t want to do chili again, so I began to brainstorm and search the web. Casserole recipes are great for large groups and pizza is great for parties, which makes this pizza casserole the ultimate party dish. The original recipe that I found, form Country Kitchen Cooking, used pasta instead of breadsticks. Since I work at Noodles & Company, I decided against using the pasta. I think the breadsticks give it much more flavor. I made my green bean casserole to go with the meal and help my ski bum friends get some nutrients into their dinner. This spin off pizza is easier to make and won’t keep you in the kitchen for the entire party!
