food & such
Things have been busy at work lately and I haven't been up to much outside of that. So not much to say in posts.
Also, I haven't really felt the urge for creative cooking. Mostly just making fuel. Not that it's not good-tasting fuel, it is usually pretty delicious. Just have been sticking to easy things and old stand-bys. Thank goodness for our weekly vegetable delivery or we would be nutritionally deficient, I'm sure. Though I will admit that I'm falling behind on using all the winter squash, it's starting to take over the kitchen. :)
I got a little inspiration from the box this week..
We got a nice little bunch of parsley in the box and I thought about making pommes persillade (garlic & parsley potatoes), but then I ended up using the potatoes in potato leek soup. But the idea of the persillade stuck with me. Then I remembered how we still have a stack of lamb chops in the freezer, and how I need to make room in there for the turkey.
So, I ended up mixing the persillade with panko bread crumbs (I was out of regular), a little lemon juice, and olive oil. I packed that mixture onto one side of the lamb chops then pan cooked them. Wow. I don't usually think of parsley as a very flavorful ingredient, but it really shines when mixed with the garlic. This was really delicious and seemed very fancy, but was so simple.
Brian wanted polenta, so I tossed that in the oven while I made everything else. I love the oven recipe, it's so simple. Whisk water, salt and cornmeal in pot. Put it in the oven for 30mins. Take it out & stir it. Put it back in the oven for 10mins. Voila! So good & easy.
Since I had the oven on, I also threw in some curry-squash and I tried out a new recipe roasted kale. Which turned out fabulous, by the way. Crispy and salty and so good. I'm looking forward to making this all winter. Makes me want to grow kale at home too. =)
I tossed the sweet potatoes in the oven to cook too, but I saved them for another night. I figured they will make an easy and quick side dish. I'm getting better at doing things like this.. using the oven more efficiently and cooking things in advance to make easier/quicker weeknight meals.
Also, I haven't really felt the urge for creative cooking. Mostly just making fuel. Not that it's not good-tasting fuel, it is usually pretty delicious. Just have been sticking to easy things and old stand-bys. Thank goodness for our weekly vegetable delivery or we would be nutritionally deficient, I'm sure. Though I will admit that I'm falling behind on using all the winter squash, it's starting to take over the kitchen. :)
I got a little inspiration from the box this week..
We got a nice little bunch of parsley in the box and I thought about making pommes persillade (garlic & parsley potatoes), but then I ended up using the potatoes in potato leek soup. But the idea of the persillade stuck with me. Then I remembered how we still have a stack of lamb chops in the freezer, and how I need to make room in there for the turkey.
So, I ended up mixing the persillade with panko bread crumbs (I was out of regular), a little lemon juice, and olive oil. I packed that mixture onto one side of the lamb chops then pan cooked them. Wow. I don't usually think of parsley as a very flavorful ingredient, but it really shines when mixed with the garlic. This was really delicious and seemed very fancy, but was so simple.
Brian wanted polenta, so I tossed that in the oven while I made everything else. I love the oven recipe, it's so simple. Whisk water, salt and cornmeal in pot. Put it in the oven for 30mins. Take it out & stir it. Put it back in the oven for 10mins. Voila! So good & easy.
Since I had the oven on, I also threw in some curry-squash and I tried out a new recipe roasted kale. Which turned out fabulous, by the way. Crispy and salty and so good. I'm looking forward to making this all winter. Makes me want to grow kale at home too. =)
I tossed the sweet potatoes in the oven to cook too, but I saved them for another night. I figured they will make an easy and quick side dish. I'm getting better at doing things like this.. using the oven more efficiently and cooking things in advance to make easier/quicker weeknight meals.