mmmmmmm
So, often it happens that leiascully and I cook something delicious and say, "Ooh, that's pretty, get the camera!" Less often, we actually remember to get the camera. And even less often than that do we remember to post the pictures we took. But that day is not today! Today, I have remembered! Ahahaha.
As it turns out, only ONE of these dishes has meat, because we've been trying to eat less of it, so let's just get that one out of the way, shall we? Yes.
1. Pork carnitas tacos.
A few weeks ago, my mother brought us a whole mess of food, because she's a mom and that's what she does. When we unpacked the goodies, we discovered that we had come into possession of a couple of pounds of country-style ribs. My natural inclination is to throw those things in the slow-cooker or in the oven with a good mix of seasoning and my favorite barbecue sauce, then fry up a bunch of potatoes, heat up some corn-on-the-cob, and call it dinner. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it turned out), Mary has an aversion to barbecued pork (at least, in rib-form), so that was right out. We puzzled over what to do with the ribs for a few days. I couldn't get the slow-cooker idea out of my mind, so I found a recipe on Epicurious that let me have my slow-cooked pork and let Mary eat it, too.
These slow-cooked carnitas tacos are one of the most amazing things I've put in my mouth. Yeah. They're that good. The recipe is incredibly simple-- salt, pepper, oregano, onion and pork all go into the magical slow-cooker and around six hours later, you're all set. The only thing I'd change about this recipe is that it tells you to discard the onion, which Mary and I both agreed was a terrible waste of a flavorful oniony treat. I sliced ours up and tossed it into a pan with a red bell pepper, and we ate those with the tacos. Mmmmmmmmm x1000000000. Here it is in all its glory:
MMMMMMMMMMMM.
2. Shaved Asparagus Pizza.
I knew when I found this recipe at Smitten Kitchen that we would end up making it, because we love fresh asparagus and we love pizza. This is a perfect fit for us-- or for anybody, really. It's so simple and so fresh and so, so very delicious. It also made for good teamwork: Mary made the dough early in the day, and then I put the pizza together that evening while she did some work in the garden. Here's a step-by-step of the assembly!
Mmmm, fresh asparagus. It was something of a pain to shave, even though our peeler is nice and sharp. I have since invested in a Y-peeler, and I think that'll make everything nice and easy next time we make this. Which we will. Because it was amazing.
Aaaaaaaaaand it's ready for the oven! This was the easiest dough I have ever worked with. It rolled right on out and gave me no trouble. Maybe it's just that Mary is magical, but even without a Mary of your very own, I recommend using this dough recipe. Easy to make, easy to work with, and has a great flavor.
Finished product! NOM NOM NOM. This thing was gone, gone, gone in very short order. I mourn its loss. We will have to make another one. VERY SOON.
3. Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte.
Did I mention that we love Smitten Kitchen? We love Smitten Kitchen. (Seriously, it bears repeating. When her cookbook comes out, I will be one of the first people lining up to get it.) This torte is delicious. I have made it several times now, and though I've only followed the letter of the recipe once, it always tastes amazing. Yukon golds, while one of my favorite potatoes, are not an absolute must for this recipe-- but then, around here (unless I'm in charge and I'm baking something that involves chocolate) recipes are more suggestions than anything anyway. We've been known to sub in all sorts of things that may or may not be advisable, all in the name of "I don't wanna go to the store," or "I'm broke, I'm not buying that, this recipe can just cope!" So if you want to make this recipe and you're just scrounging in your kitchen and all you come up with (like us) is a small package of red potatoes and a large yellow squash, go for it. It'll still taste great, we promise.
And then, because I was too distracted by the smell of this dish, I forgot to take pictures when it came out of the oven. Fail! But it tasted amazing. Win!
4. Quinoa-Stuffed Zucchini.
I don't brag enough about Green Lite Bites, but I should, because there's plenty of yummy stuff over there, and as an added bonus, Roni is kind enough to break down the nutritional info for you, which makes it so blissfully easy to total up calories, should you want to do that. And as the name of the site may have indicated, it's full of lighter fare. The ingredients are never hard to find, the dishes are easy to put together, it all tastes great, and I don't have to sacrifice flavorful food for healthier eating. Win/win/win/win!
I found this recipe for stuffed zucchini (or Zucchini Boats, as I usually call them) last summer, when we had obtained an obscenely large zucc ( no really I mean LARGE) from the Farmers Market (for $1!!!) and needed something to do with it. We've made it several times since then, and it's always tasty. Mmmm.
5. Asparagus, Goat Cheese & Lemon Pasta.
When faced with the dilemma of having some leftover asparagus from last week's pizza, we knew immediately what to do with it: grab some goat cheese and make this pasta. It's yummy, it's pretty simple, we've made it before. Aces. Like most things we end up making more than once, I've never made this the same way twice. This week's twist: we added some zucchini and changed the pasta to whole wheat rigatoni.
Pasta + veggies:
Mmmm, goat cheese + olive oil + spices (salt and pepper and marjoram: despite the fact that this recipe calls for tarragon, I have never made it that way, because it turns out that tarragon is one of maybe three odd spices that we just don't own and never remember to buy):
Aaaaand scene:
Yeah. So. I really love food. Why did I go to law school?
If you care at all about my adventures in the kitchen, later this week I may spam you with Adventures in Baking, for I am making a Tiramisu Cake (and two guesses as to where that link will take you) and an Espresso Cake, both in the same week. :O :O :O Or, as I hope everyone who eats these cakes will say: \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/
As it turns out, only ONE of these dishes has meat, because we've been trying to eat less of it, so let's just get that one out of the way, shall we? Yes.
1. Pork carnitas tacos.
A few weeks ago, my mother brought us a whole mess of food, because she's a mom and that's what she does. When we unpacked the goodies, we discovered that we had come into possession of a couple of pounds of country-style ribs. My natural inclination is to throw those things in the slow-cooker or in the oven with a good mix of seasoning and my favorite barbecue sauce, then fry up a bunch of potatoes, heat up some corn-on-the-cob, and call it dinner. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it turned out), Mary has an aversion to barbecued pork (at least, in rib-form), so that was right out. We puzzled over what to do with the ribs for a few days. I couldn't get the slow-cooker idea out of my mind, so I found a recipe on Epicurious that let me have my slow-cooked pork and let Mary eat it, too.
These slow-cooked carnitas tacos are one of the most amazing things I've put in my mouth. Yeah. They're that good. The recipe is incredibly simple-- salt, pepper, oregano, onion and pork all go into the magical slow-cooker and around six hours later, you're all set. The only thing I'd change about this recipe is that it tells you to discard the onion, which Mary and I both agreed was a terrible waste of a flavorful oniony treat. I sliced ours up and tossed it into a pan with a red bell pepper, and we ate those with the tacos. Mmmmmmmmm x1000000000. Here it is in all its glory:
MMMMMMMMMMMM.
2. Shaved Asparagus Pizza.
I knew when I found this recipe at Smitten Kitchen that we would end up making it, because we love fresh asparagus and we love pizza. This is a perfect fit for us-- or for anybody, really. It's so simple and so fresh and so, so very delicious. It also made for good teamwork: Mary made the dough early in the day, and then I put the pizza together that evening while she did some work in the garden. Here's a step-by-step of the assembly!
Mmmm, fresh asparagus. It was something of a pain to shave, even though our peeler is nice and sharp. I have since invested in a Y-peeler, and I think that'll make everything nice and easy next time we make this. Which we will. Because it was amazing.
Aaaaaaaaaand it's ready for the oven! This was the easiest dough I have ever worked with. It rolled right on out and gave me no trouble. Maybe it's just that Mary is magical, but even without a Mary of your very own, I recommend using this dough recipe. Easy to make, easy to work with, and has a great flavor.
Finished product! NOM NOM NOM. This thing was gone, gone, gone in very short order. I mourn its loss. We will have to make another one. VERY SOON.
3. Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte.
Did I mention that we love Smitten Kitchen? We love Smitten Kitchen. (Seriously, it bears repeating. When her cookbook comes out, I will be one of the first people lining up to get it.) This torte is delicious. I have made it several times now, and though I've only followed the letter of the recipe once, it always tastes amazing. Yukon golds, while one of my favorite potatoes, are not an absolute must for this recipe-- but then, around here (unless I'm in charge and I'm baking something that involves chocolate) recipes are more suggestions than anything anyway. We've been known to sub in all sorts of things that may or may not be advisable, all in the name of "I don't wanna go to the store," or "I'm broke, I'm not buying that, this recipe can just cope!" So if you want to make this recipe and you're just scrounging in your kitchen and all you come up with (like us) is a small package of red potatoes and a large yellow squash, go for it. It'll still taste great, we promise.
And then, because I was too distracted by the smell of this dish, I forgot to take pictures when it came out of the oven. Fail! But it tasted amazing. Win!
4. Quinoa-Stuffed Zucchini.
I don't brag enough about Green Lite Bites, but I should, because there's plenty of yummy stuff over there, and as an added bonus, Roni is kind enough to break down the nutritional info for you, which makes it so blissfully easy to total up calories, should you want to do that. And as the name of the site may have indicated, it's full of lighter fare. The ingredients are never hard to find, the dishes are easy to put together, it all tastes great, and I don't have to sacrifice flavorful food for healthier eating. Win/win/win/win!
I found this recipe for stuffed zucchini (or Zucchini Boats, as I usually call them) last summer, when we had obtained an obscenely large zucc ( no really I mean LARGE) from the Farmers Market (for $1!!!) and needed something to do with it. We've made it several times since then, and it's always tasty. Mmmm.
5. Asparagus, Goat Cheese & Lemon Pasta.
When faced with the dilemma of having some leftover asparagus from last week's pizza, we knew immediately what to do with it: grab some goat cheese and make this pasta. It's yummy, it's pretty simple, we've made it before. Aces. Like most things we end up making more than once, I've never made this the same way twice. This week's twist: we added some zucchini and changed the pasta to whole wheat rigatoni.
Pasta + veggies:
Mmmm, goat cheese + olive oil + spices (salt and pepper and marjoram: despite the fact that this recipe calls for tarragon, I have never made it that way, because it turns out that tarragon is one of maybe three odd spices that we just don't own and never remember to buy):
Aaaaand scene:
Yeah. So. I really love food. Why did I go to law school?
If you care at all about my adventures in the kitchen, later this week I may spam you with Adventures in Baking, for I am making a Tiramisu Cake (and two guesses as to where that link will take you) and an Espresso Cake, both in the same week. :O :O :O Or, as I hope everyone who eats these cakes will say: \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/