The kids and I love to watch the show Chopped on Food Network. A couple weeks ago, one of the contestants made a broccoli and lemon couscous, and I loved the idea, so I decided to see if I could figure out how to make it — it sounded simple enough. We loved it!
Broccoli-Lemon Couscous
Broccoli and Lemon Couscous
3 stalks broccoli
1 lemon
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup couscous
1. Cut the florets from the broccoli, saving the stalk and stems for another purpose. Chop the broccoli into
[Continue reading Broccoli-Lemon Couscous Recipe]
When I decided to change the way we eat from super-rich, calorie- and fat-laden food to healthier fare, I wasn’t willing to give up macaroni and cheese. One of our favorite meals is my stovetop macaroni and cheese, served with some fresh tomatoes and either salad or green beans. It’s also one of those meals I can fall back on when I’ve forgotten an ingredient or the chicken isn’t thawed yet.
So I set out to adapt my recipe to something healthier. I was able to cut out 210 calories per serving (164 of those from fat!), and it tastes just
[Continue reading Fast and Healthy (and Still Yummy) Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese Recipe]
I have tried a zillion recipes for marinara sauce, but they didn’t have that tang of the canned sauce that I like (Hunt’s Garlic and Herb sauce), so I kept using that, occasionally trying a new sauce recipe, but always going back to the canned stuff. Recently, a friend told me that she uses some balsamic vinegar in hers to give it that kick. I decided to try her recipe (with a few tweaks), and oh, man, am I glad that I did. The balsamic not only adds that tang, it somehow makes the sauce taste both fresh and simmered
[Continue reading Super Quick and Easy Marinara Sauce Recipe]
Pasta is one of those things I buy in bulk when it’s on sale. I store it in a tall, airtight canister. But when it’s time to cook, it can be hard to cook just the right amount. I’ve tried the “spaghetti measurer” with the holes for different amounts of servings, but I find it really frustrating to use. For other varieties of pasta, I just weighed it out, but uncooked spaghetti isn’t as bowl-friendly as, say, elbow macaroni.
Now, I just put a drinking glass on my kitchen scale, zero it out, and stand spaghetti in the glass until I’ve
[Continue reading Measuring and Weighing Spaghetti]
This is a family staple – my mom used to make it (a little differently) when I was a kid, I make it for my kids, and my grown daughter makes it for herself and her boyfriend. I think we each put our own touch to it.
This is absolutely an Americanized version of goulash – it’s nothing like the Hungarian kind. I’m not even sure why we call it goulash, except for the paprika. It does make a great budget-stretcher, though – I’ve made with as little as a quarter pound of meat and no one complained.
This also freezes well
[Continue reading Goulash Recipe]
A couple of weeks ago, I tried making a lighter version of one of our family favorites, Spaghetti con Sugo di Tonno. I failed miserably. It was all going well until I decided that upping the fiber and protein would probably be a good idea, and I added a drained can of cannellini beans. Well, they turned to grainy mush that pretty much ruined the dish. I think maybe if I had added them nearer to the end… but I decided to skip them this time and rely on side dishes for the added fiber. This lighter version was as
[Continue reading Lighter Recipe for Spaghetti con Sugo di Tonno (Spaghetti with Tuna Sauce)]
Spaghetti con Sugo di Tonno (Spaghetti with Tuna Sauce, or, as we call it around here, Tuna Spaghetti) is an amazingly tasty dinner that takes only about a minute longer than it takes for the pasta to cook.
I discovered this on a blog somewhere and have since lost the link and the printout I had of the recipe. It was such a huge success that we make it almost weekly around here – so I no longer needed the printout, I guess. I need to find the time to search out the original recipe sometime, to see how far I’ve
[Continue reading Spaghetti con Sugo di Tonno Recipe]
I ended up not going to pool last night, so I made macaroni and cheese for dinner. I was wiped out after the field trip.
Doodle is going to Texas to visit her grandmother on Sunday. She’ll be gone for two weeks. The kids go to their dad’s tonight, so I was glad to spend an extra night with all of us together before she goes.
We don’t eat the orange boxed stuff around here anymore, because this recipe makes macaroni and cheese that’s so much tastier, has real ingredients, and doesn’t cost much at all. It makes a wonderful dinner with
[Continue reading Yummy, frugal and quick! Stovetop Macaroni & Cheese Recipe]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanataro/ / CC BY 2.0
Using lots of water and stirring pasta frequently while it’s boiling are the traditional ways to keep pasta from sticking to itself. But while I use lots of water, I am usually doing a zillion things at once while the pasta boils — making a sauce, answering the phone, helping the kids — so pasta would end up sticking together anyway.
Recently, I read a tip in a Cook’s Illustrated magazine. If you add an acid (vinegar, lemon juice) to
[Continue reading Pasta that doesn’t stick]
Chicken with Shallots and Buttered Noodles
This is one of our favorite dinners around here. The sauce is so silky and rich and decadent. The whole dinner is really quick to make, and affordable, but tastes like something I spent hours on.
Chicken with Shallots
4 chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
[Continue reading Chicken with Shallots and Buttered Noodles Recipes]
|
|
|
July 23rd, 2010 | 
Tags: 
Category: 
2 comments
Leave a comment
