Southwest Veggie Enchiladas with Homemade Ancho Sauce
Posted by Troy | Filed under Last Night's Dinner
At this very moment I am trying to decide if 10:45 a.m. is too early to bust out leftovers…
This meal is both simple and beautiful, and is guaranteed to knock your socks off.
I’d recommend it to vegetarians when hosting your carnivorous father-in-law… just don’t tell him it’s meatless…
He’ll be so busy stuffing his face, wiping sweat from his barren cranium and breathing loudly through his nose that he’ll never notice.
Tags: enchiladas, Food, southwest
Falafel with Cucumber Sauce and Homemade Pita
Posted by Troy | Filed under Last Night's Dinner
Do I even have to say that my favorite part is the cucumber sauce?
This is a cool recipe and a great way to entertain guests with a really pretty dinner (my photo doesn’t do it justice).
In the past we’ve used packaged pitas, but this time (and maybe from now on) Noël made her own thanks to a book (with a fabulous cover design, I might add) given to us from one of our most boisterous Lebanese friends.
Tags: Last Night's Dinner, Mediterranean
No Fear
Posted by Troy | Filed under Beer, Cancer
One of the biggest truths I’ve been learning about myself recently is how I allow fear to make my decisions.
I have a lot of fear, usually irrational feelings about the imagined trajectory of my life.
Of course, when I get a call from my doctor like the one earlier this week…
those fears are justified I think.
So at the end of a long day and dealing with a really scary phone call and imagining a really scary future…
It was nice to get this message in a bottle.
Thanks, Magic Hat.
Turkey Burger Throwdown
Posted by Troy | Filed under Last Night's Dinner
Southwest Salsa Ranch
vs.
Kalamata Mayo Pepperjack.
GO!
Broccoli-Cheddar Stuffed Chicken
Posted by Troy | Filed under Food, Last Night's Dinner
You know that Kraft Food & Family magazine that comes every so often? (I guess they are charging for subscriptions now)
It’s pretty much a 20-page advertisment, but every once in a while you can find a real keeper in there…
I don’t even like broccoli (even though I eat it almost every day), but I like this.
It’s pretty cool how their recipes combine pre-made shortcuts (like the Shake and Bake here) with fresh ingredients…
We cut out the bacon and served the chicken with a side of wild rice and fresh green beans.
My 4-yr-old chowed it down like it was ice cream (of course he eats just about everything like that—his favorite show is Man vs. Food)
Tip: Green beans often get overcooked. Steam them just long enough to get them warm… you should still be able to “snap” them even after cooking.
Tags: chicken, Food, original photo
Homemade Salsa
Posted by Troy | Filed under Food, Last Night's Dinner
OK, so this isn’t technically what we had for dinner last night… we had stir fry.
This is what Noël spent most the day working on though.
She’s been canning like a fiend this summer… first strawberry jam, then cherry, then blueberry… last week she canned some tomatoes which got us thinking…. salsa!!!
She makes fresh salsa quite regularly which is fabulous on just about anything… but we have a bunch of tomatoes from our church’s community garden and had already canned tomatoes…
So the hunt began…
She was quite determined to find a recipe that used no vinegar… usually a main ingredient in salsa…
Finally found one and it turned out super-fantastic!
Salsa has to be up there in my all-time favorite foods of any kind… this stuff is going to disappear way too quickly.
Tags: Food, original photo
Vegetable Lasagna
Posted by Troy | Filed under Last Night's Dinner
Last night’s veggie lasagna.
Sorry… but it is just that good.
I’d share the recipe, but I don’t know if posting witchcraft spells from Hogwarts kitchen would get me in some sort of trouble with the feds.
Tags: Food, Last Night's Dinner, original photo
Insalata Caprese
Posted by Troy | Filed under Food, Last Night's Dinner
Tomatoes and basil from the garden with big fat slabs of fresh mozzarella.
An easy and refreshing salad perfect for the last evenings of summer.
We had it as a side to Pesto-stuffed Chicken with new potatoes from the neighbors’ farm.
Tags: Food, original photo
Easy Chicken Tacos
Posted by Troy | Filed under Food, Last Night's Dinner
Taco seasoning packet makes these chicken tacos super easy.
Using whatever veggies you have on hand make these unique every time we have them.
Today, it was some leftover sweet corn, an avacado, tomatoes from the garden, black olives and red onions.
We use Bearitos organic taco seasoning because it is gluten free, so the whole family can share.
Tags: gluten free, original photo, recipe, tacos
Surf and Turf
Posted by Troy | Filed under Food, Last Night's Dinner
I’ve said for years that my love language is food.
It’s no wonder that I feel so loved by my wife Noël, since she’s been cooking up fantastic meals for a decade now…
It’s rarely anything extra-fancy or daring… she just has a gift for taking a recipe and turning it out. Even the most simple meals (like my favorite—rice and beans) can buckle my knees at the mere thought. Not only that, but she manages to keep the food supply healthy and plentiful, even though the cupboards and fridge are typically quite bare.
Word has gotten out about her mad skills in the kitchen, so we’ve decided to share future favorites along the way in a feature I’m calling “Last Night’s Dinner.”
To kick it off today, we’re sharing the recipe for what was one of those daring special occasion meals… our 10th anniversary celebratory feast: Grilled Steak and Lobster Skewers with a Choron-inspired butter sauce, served with Chive Mashed Potatoes and Picked-Today Corn on the Cob.
Yes. It is as good as it sounds.
We knew this was a risk—first time cooking lobster and all. Neither one of us was sure we’d like it or if the quality of the lobster we could get here in Michigan would be good enough. I was also a little leery about the sauce… afraid that the tomato flavor would be too strong.
It turned out fabulous though. The subtle flavor and texture of the lobster complimented the steak perfectly, the sauce was just right, and the potatoes would have melted my heart all on their own. The first sweet corn of the season was so good… from our favorite farm… you don’t even have to cook it, you could just walk out into their field and start gnawing.
Even though the supplies for this meal cost a little more than our usual $1 meal fare, it was still at least $60 cheaper than the same meal you’d get at a restaurant (not that any restaurant would have corn like that).
continue for recipe…
Tags: original photo
