Oops, I forgot to do a food post last week. We had a few meals outside of the normal rotation, so let’s review!
One that people liked was turkey bacon wraps. I had mine in spinach wraps , with smoked turkey from the deli, bacon, pea shoots, a nice mild lacy Swiss, and horseradish sauce, with a snappy dill pickle.
We also had some berries and some of those awful spicy crunchy onion ring snacks that are so unreasonably delicious. Fresh fruit is not great at this time of year, but I’m so desperate for color, I’m willing to grasp at strawberries.
Against my best instincts, I also made a giant chicken pot pie last week. For reasons I don’t understand, no one except me likes chicken pot pie, but I thought maybe I would just make one so delicious and wonderful that they’d all . . . change their minds. Look how cozy and enticing it is!
What you can’t see, since this is a still pic, is that I made the sauce way too thin, and the contents were rolling and sloshing around under that lovely crust. It still tasted good! But we ate it in bowls.
I used readymade puff pastry dough, top and bottom. (I had some left over, which is what gave me the idea of chicken pie.) I cooked the chicken, carrots, and potatoes in broth in the Instant Pot, and then made a white sauce with chicken broth and milk, then put them together and poured it into the crust. If there’s ever a next time, I will slightly undercook the potatoes and I’ll bake the bottom crust a bit before filling it. And of course I’ll make the sauce much thicker.
I still thought it was a delicious. But no hearts or minds were won this day.
We also had a new kind of salad that I expected to be more popular than it was. The family is pretty tired of buffalo chicken salad and all the other chicken salads, but mango and avocado were both on sale, so I made this lovely mango avocado lime cilantro honey salsa to go with a salad with chicken, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
I don’t seem to have written the recipe down, because why would I? Bah. I guess it was . . . mango, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, honey, and red onion. And there was a dressing made of olive oil, honey, dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, minced garlic, cilantro, and salt and pepper. It was really tasty, sweet and summery. Ugh, why did I not write this down? Doesn’t matter, nobody liked it anyway except me. They are so dang spoiled.
Finally, we had gochujang beef with rice. Usually I made this dish with pork. It turns out it’s good either way, and certainly easy. The sauce is just a few ingredients, and you can prep everything in the morning or even the night before, and then just, zoop, cook it up. I’ll put my recipe card at the end,
Jump to Recipeand you can just substitute beef if you like. I used shredded coins of carrots rather than matchsticks, and I think I prefer it that way.
Oh gosh, last week was also Valentine’s Day. Clara baked something like 130 cupcakes, and we decorated about half of them. I iced them and added some fancy sprinkles, and Benny sat there and sedately rolled up about 72 fruit roll roses.
The way you do this is you roll the end of the roll tightly, and then you rotate the roll in one direction while twisting the unrolled part in the other direction and wrapping the twisted part around the roll. I can’t describe it better than that, because I’m not very good at it. But Benny is!
The cupcakes were a big hit. Benny also made those Valentines where you take a photo of the kid holding her fist out, and then cut two little slits in the print and insert a lollipop.
Okay, on to this week! Here’s what we had:
SATURDAY
Hamburgers, strawberries, chips
Nothing to report. These February fruits are not great, but it’s so cold and bleak, I’m willing to grasp at strawberries.
SUNDAY
Pizza
Nothing to report.
MONDAY
Roast pork ribs, tater tots, asparagus
Crazy busy day with hours of driving and appointments, so I was pretty pleased to have this meal cooked in what we professionals “a twinkling.”
Pork ribs with salt and pepper under the boiler, turn once, boom. BBQ sauce from a bottle. Asparagus sautéed in a pan with some sesame oil and lemon wedges.
TUESDAY
Paprika parmesan chicken with tomatoes and peppers, buttered noodles
Second time making this recipe, which takes a bit of chopping but is a one-pan dish with a simple but very tasty sauce.
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About half the family likes it, which is pretty good. It’s easy enough, and the chicken turns out very moist and full of flavor.
I love the bright colors for winter, and it’s important to make sure everyone knows you used TWO kinds of paprika. Two!! (If you have to pick one, go with the smoked one.)
As you can see, I crowded the pan.
It’s just what I do. It turned out fine; the chicken just didn’t get as crisp as it might have. Still delicious!
WEDNESDAY
Beef teriyaki stir fry with rice
One kid is very fond of stir fry, and every once in a while, we indulge her. It’s a sacrifice, but I’m willing to ask Damien to cut up a hunk of beef, and then when I get home, I start some rice cooking in the instant pot, sauté the sliced meat in a pan, chuck in some frozen vegetables, and then slop on some bottled sauce at the end.
I really like this teriyaki sauce: Veri Veri Teriyaki, although it’s a bit thin, so I added a little cornstarch while cooking.
I always ask myself if I like it just because it’s called “Soy Vay,” and I just don’t know.
THURSDAY
Chicken quesadillas, beans and rice
Damien cooked the chicken in the morning, and I threw together some beans and rice and made the quesadillas.
I didn’t take any pictures, but here is a beans and rice of ages past.
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I snacked on so much cheese and chicken while cooking everyone’s quesadillas, I ended up not wanting one myself. I could actually eat beans and rice every day. Recipe card below.
FRIDAY
Fish burgers, cole slaw
This will be tonight.
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Probably I should get chips or something. I got some soft rolls and some battered frozen fish and tartar sauce.
Oh, speaking of which, Lent is coming, and you need to know that Wendy’s cod sandwich is the best fish burger you can get, and if you’re looking for a really stinging penance, give up ordering Wendy’s cod sandwich. No further questions at this time.
One-pan paprika chicken with parmesan, tomatoes, and peppers
Bright, sweet, easy, tasty! Make with buttered noodles or hearty bread, or just by itself.
Ingredients
- 6 lbs chicken parts with skin and bone
- salt and pepper for sprinkling
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 Tbsp minced garlic (probably a whole head)
- 2 Tbsp paprika
- 2 Tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 Tbsp oregano
- 3-4 pints cherry tomatoes (I used fancy tomatoes in various colors), halved
- 4 sweet peppers (I used red, orange, yellow, and green), sliced thinly
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 1 bunch parsley, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425
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In a bowl, mix together the olive oil, cider vinegar, garlic, paprikas, and oregano, and toss with the chicken so it's coated
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Spread the chicken in a pan with a rim and sprinkle with salt.
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Add the tomatoes and peppers to the pan in between the pieces of chicken. If the pan is too crowded, spread everything out into a second pan. You want to leave room so it will roast a bit.
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Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and pepper and lightly drizzle with olive oil.
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Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over everything.
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Roast for about 40-50 minutes until chicken is golden and a little crisp.
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Serve chicken, topped with parsley and a little pepper. Sprinkle a little extra cider vinegar on top if you like.
Gochujang bulgoki (spicy Korean pork)
Ingredients
- 1.5 pound boneless pork, sliced thin
- 4 carrots in matchsticks or shreds
- 1 onion sliced thin
sauce:
- 5 generous Tbsp gochujang (fermented pepper paste)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 5 cloves minced garlic
Serve with white rice and nori (seaweed sheets) or lettuce leaves to wrap
Instructions
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Combine pork, onions, and carrots.
Mix together all sauce ingredients and stir into pork and vegetables.
Cover and let marinate for several hours or overnight.
Heat a pan with a little oil and sauté the pork mixture until pork is cooked through.Serve with rice and lettuce or nori. Eat by taking pieces of lettuce or nori, putting a scoop of meat and rice in, and making little bundles to eat.
Coleslaw
Ingredients
- 1 head cabbage, shredded
- 2 carrots, grated
- 5 radishes, grated or sliced thin (optional)
Dressing
- 1 cup mayo
- 1 cup cider or white vinegar
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- pepper to taste
Instructions
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Mix together shredded vegetables.
Mix dressing ingredients together and stir into cabbage mix.
Beans and rice
A good side dish, a main course for meatless meals, or to serve inside carnitas, etc.
Ingredients
- 3 cups uncooked white rice
- 1 15-oz cans red or black beans, drained
- 1 20-oz can diced tomatoes with some of the juice
- 1 diced jalapeno
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped roughly
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 2 Tbsp minced garlic
- chili powder
- cumin
- salt and pepper
Instructions
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Cook rice. Add rest of ingredients, adjusting spices to taste. If it's too dry, add more tomato juice.
