Saturday

Zucchini curry (recipe in the comments from November 16, 2007)
Red and white radishes (from the farmer's market!) with yogurt blue cheese dressing

A BIG pot of hot tea
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The cold still clings. We had a LOVELY Sunday, but my cold is still very much with us and driving me crazy. I think I have become addicted to Sudafed and Vicks infused kleenex. I'm not enjoying my weekend time the way I should. That said, this was a lovely day. We went to the zoo and enjoyed our backyard and T had a great time. The curry from tonight is a welcome dinner though - warm and comforting - for my throat. The radishes are from our first trip to the farmer's market and were WONDERFUL! What a joy to have back!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Moderate
Chopping: Garlic, ginger, onion, zucchini, cilantro
Time: 40 minutes
Make ahead: Saves and even freezes well.

Reaction
J: "Zucchini joy!"
M: "This curry is GOOD."

Saturday

T's pasta salad AKA pasta salad with corn and roasted peppers (recipe in the comments from June 7, 2008)
Tuscan melon

Hot tea
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Despite having a bit of a cold snap here in Buffalo, we switched the house to our summer decor today. I love our summer look because it's more whimsical then the rest of the year - bright colors, lots of palm leaves, and a lot of Tiki kitsch! It's very fun. To celebrate, we made our signature EARLY summer one dish meal. This summer-y seeming pasta salad doesn't rely on fresh ingredients that really aren't available in late May! We originally planned to try this the week T was born (about 2 weeks early) , but didn't since we were busy having a baby! This always makes me think of him though. Now that he's almost three, he loves to eat it! I've been casually calling this T's Pasta Salad for a while and have officially changed the name :)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Peppers, garlic, grape tomatoes, onion, cilantro, avocado, Jack cheese
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: Absolutely!

Reaction
J: "Welcome summer (at least decor)!"
M: "So good! So good!"

Friday

Spinach and arugula pesto (recipe in the comments from May 27, 2008)
Sauteed mini bell peppers with balsamic

Hot tea
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It's another pesto meal. We haven't had this one in a while, even though it works fine in winter, and I think both of us have missed it. The pesto is bright green and makes for a gorgeous meal. The peppers are tri-colored and locally hot house grown so we've had them with several meals lately - yummy every time. This is a super easy dinner, fitting our Friday night criteria :)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Everything just goes into the food processor
Time: 30 minutes
Make ahead: Make the pesto ahead and toss with fresh pasta.

Reaction
J: "Perfect pesto."
M: "MMMFRGHMMFRGH" (comment unintelligible due to full mouth!)

Thursday

Eggplant curry (recipe in the comments from November 30, 2007)
Yogurt
Basmati rice
Cucumber salad

An unusually large amount of hot tea
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This is an old standard that has lately been replaced by out relatively new eggplant cauliflower curry in the rotation, but, while that dish is excellent, it's not a replacement for this far simpler (flavor-wise) dish. Something about the clarity of the eggplant, peas, and cilantro just makes this dish. Besides we've been making this for almost as long as we've been cooking together, and it reminds me of the very young us. That alone is worth keeping it a regular.

For those of you who emailed to ask, my voice is some better, but the still cold has me in it's grips (note the hot tea). I'm about to take some sudafed.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Moderate (easy to make, but long to cook)
Chopping: Onion, eggplant, cilantro
Time: 45 minutes
Make ahead: Saves like a dream.

Reaction
J: "Excellent vegan fare."
M: "Eggplant still = YUM."

Wednesday - Canceled out to dinner

Today was supposed to be another date night - we even had a sitter lined up, but my cold has morphed into laryngitis and so chatting together at a restaurant seemed like less fun than usual :) So, we canceled and ordered Chinese take out. I have a true love of Chinese take out, but much of it is pretty disappointing. We like places with sauces that taste very different, aren't greasy, have enough heat (spice), and serve main dishes with LOTS of vegetables. This seems hard to come by. We loved our Chinese place in Ann Arbor, but have found one nearly as good in Buffalo, Golden Duck. It's telling that as we ordered tonight none of the dishes we've tried on the menu had negative comments by them and many have two stars! On tap for tonight:

Steamed dumplings
Egg drop soup
Pork with broccoli garlic sauce
General Tso's chicken
Vegetarian fried rice

We had previously had the dumplings and fried rice (both are truly excellent). The egg drop soup was fine, but not M's favorite version. The pork with broccoli garlic sauce was INCREDIBLE - truly hard to beat. The General Tso's managed to be good chicken with excellent batter (not greasy or limp), but we both agreed that the sauce was too sweet for our taste. While this sounds a bit mixed all of our complaints stem from our personal take on dishes (rather than true recipe flaws) and we both remain convinced that this is overall a good Chinese place. One more thing that makes Buffalo feel like home...

Tuesday

Spanish-style poached eggs (recipe in the comments)
Wheat toast
Refried beans

Hot tea
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We first made this in 2002 and were in a phase fora while where we had it pretty regularly. I don't think we've made it since I was pregnant with T though, so we've been off the track. I rediscovered it looking through cookbooks the other day and so both of us were excited to re-try it. That said, I have a cold and am less than enthused about anything today. Even still, dinner was yummy and I hope to have this back in the rotation more regularly.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Yellow pepper, jalapeno, avocado
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: This is best last minute.

Reaction
J: "Another blast from the past"
M: "Incredible and easy eggs"

Monday

Chili glazed tofu with asparagus rice (recipe in the comments)
Steamed bok choy with sesame orange sauce

Hot tea
Sugar cookies
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Well, apparently we're back to our normal cooking MO. You know that we're back to normal once we're testing out a new tofu dish. This was inspired by a Cooking Light 20/20 series recipe on their vegetarian meals post. It is sort of like our no-fail tofu recipe, but bigger pieces and a glaze instead of a sauce. This means the rice, though mixed with veggies is a bit bland. We kicked it up a bit in the posted recipe and I think the new version is quite delightful. This will not double easily unless you do the tofu in two pans or do it in two batches, keeping the first set of tofu pieces warm while you make the second set. The original recipe made no use of the microwave, but I think the change works well and I used the same dish to cook the bok choy in as I did the asparagus and carrots. Yea for less clean up!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Asparagus, tofu, ginger, bok choy
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: You could prep all of this and make the sauces, but do it all last minute.

Reaction
J: "New tofu is always something to celebrate!"
M: "A worthy tofu addition!"

Sunday - Pre Memorial Day cookout

Grilled sausages (Chicken with garlic and roasted red pepper and one bratwurst for M)
Grilled veggies with balsamic (A variety of squashes, sweet onions, and portobellos)
Orzo with lemon and oregano

Hot tea
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It's hard to pass up grilled for Memorial Day. Even though it's early this year, it still feels like the official beginning of summer. And to welcome us home from Kansas City, Buffalo is providing us with AMAZING weather - low 70s, sunny, no humidity. Who could ask for better? Anyway, we had been thinking of doing pasta salad for Memorial Day, but just couldn't resist the pull of the grill. M is generally happy with chicken sausage, but wanted the real deal for today and who can argue? He's mostly making a meal of the brat and mushrooms. Anyway, celebrations were had by all. We decided that Sunday was more festive for the celebration because we aren't working tomorrow :) Happy holiday everyone!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Squash (halved), onion (sliced thick), oregano
Time: 30 minutes (after you preheat the grill)
Make ahead: Don't you always grill last minute?

Reaction
J: "An American tradition."
M: "Who doesn't love to grill?"

Saturday - Welcome home!

Penne alla vodka (recipe in the comments from November 2, 2007)
Mixed veggies with lemon

Hot tea
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We had a great visit in Kansas City, but are all happy to be home and getting back to routine. M and I try to plan a meal that has now fresh ingredients for the night we arrive into town so we have something home-y to welcome us back and don't have to shop the day we return. Penne alla vodka fits the bill, though depending on the length of your trip the parsley might not save :) This is a great meal and we haven't made in WAY too long. It just got lost in the shuffle, which si a problem with having as many recipes as we do. Anyway, we unearthed it and it was utter perfection! Don't worry if it looks like too much sauce when you first add it to the hot pasta - mixing in the Parmesan and parsley takes up some and the hot pasta will absorb more.

Note: We didn't notice we were out of vodka before we left so we made it with gin tonight. Absolutely fine :)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Shallots, parsley
Time: 25 - 35 minutes
Make ahead: You can make the sauce ahead, but toss with fresh pasta. We have even frozen this sauce and defrosted it for a fresh meal.

Reaction
J: "This is the *best* welcome home!"
M: "Booze as condiment - yum!"

Sunday - Last night at home

So, you don't get a real post tonight because we're packing and hustling to get done. We're having Quick tomato soup again - a seemingly new pre-travel tradition. It's easy and makes no leftovers, so nothing to clutter the fridge. I just love the recipe because it's tomato soup to another level - homey and gourmet. I think it's almost an analogy for our entire cooking philosophy! Is that too much to put on a simple soup? Maybe it's the pre-travel crazies coming out. We'll be back to posting this coming weekend!

Saturday

Egg ragout (recipe in the comments)
Salad with lemon vinaigrette

Hot tea
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This is kind of similar to creamed eggs and curried rice, in that it's eggs in a creamy sauce, but the flavors here are pretty different. This has lots of veggies mixed in and no curry. It's fresh tasting and comforting. The cream sauce is made with skim milk, so it's even pretty good for you. We haven't had this in several years - far longer than since we've had creamed eggs. Regardless, this is yummy and both of us enjoy it.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Snap peas, squash, scallions, eggs
Time: 35 minutes (faster if you pre-cook the eggs)
Make ahead: This is best last minute.

Reaction
J: "Oh, yummy!"
M: "A creative egg dish."

Friday

Balearic pizza (recipe in the comments)
Melon chunks

Hot tea
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Things are still busy here - I think this is the pre-trip flurry! We had to talk to a friend on the phone, make a grocery list, and finish up some last minute work tonight, all before cooking dinner! So, we chose to divide and conquer - unusual for us. M made pizza, while I made the list. It was lovely. This is a recipe from one of my dad and stepmom's favorite cookbooks. Somehow the recipes in this book really manage to capture the real flavors of the Mediterranean - all of the Mediterranean too. It's out of print now, but I love it. Anyway, this isa simple pizza to make, but is unusual for most people. No one we've ever served this to hasn't loved it. And you make two, so you can freeze one if you're not serving a crowd. I would make a lot of sides to make a single pizza serve more than two and a toddler :)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onion, garlic, bell pepper, melon
Time: 25 minutes, plus 20-30 minutes to bake
Make ahead: This one is an excellent keeper - you can even freeze it!

Reaction
J: "Pizza perfection."
M: "Pan-Mediterranean goodness."

Thursday

Grilled mahi mahi with lime and creole seasoning
Grilled zucchini
Wild rice blend with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach

Hot tea
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M and I needed an easy meal as we had a ton to do after T went to bed tonight (dog washing, phone calls, form filling out, etc). Grilled fish is always easy (no recipe needed --marinate with lime, olive oil and a bit of seasoning, and then grill), as are grilled veggies. The rice blend is a new Uncle Ben's product - low in sodium and high in whole grains.

It was all easy and tasty - a great busy night option.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Halve the zucchini lengthwise
Time: 40 minutes, 25 of which is marinating
Make ahead: Make last minute...

Reaction
J: "I really love the grill."
M: "Sometimes simplicity is best."

Wednesday - Out to dinner at Santasiero's

So, M and I have been wanting to try some of Buffalo's red sauce Italian restaurants for a long time. There's a lot of buzz about Santasiero's and so it seemed a good start. The place is an institution - same menu for 88 years, cash only, plastic tablecloths, and notes to customers on the walls. We were expecting a treat. It turned out that we weren't particularly thrilled. The soup and salad were both good, but everything else was only so so. The famous red sauce was pretty flavorless and the ravioli were obviously frozen (and overcooked to boot). Michael's eggplant parmesan was fine, but only fine. Lucky for us, Buffalo has a LOT of red sauce Italian options. I'm sure we'll find a favorite soon.

Tuesday

Cilantro tomato rice (recipe in the comments)
Grape tomatoes, carrots, celery, and yellow squash with sesame dip

Hot tea
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This is from one of our favorite cookbooks that we don't use enough. We love every recipe that we make from it, but somehow they don't rise to the top of our heads very often. We always say we'll remedy this, but somehow we don't. Anyway, we'll try again. This is an unusual dish and may have been our first experience with brown rice. The nutty flavor of the rice really adds something here and would be enjoyed by even your most vigorous whole grain detractors :) I also think this would be very good with frozen microwaved brown rice (Trader Joe's brand or Birds eye), making this a very fast prep dinner. Otherwise, enjoy the time that cooking brown rice gives you to do other things :)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy, but a bit long
Chopping: Tomato, cilantro, garlic, celery, squash
Time: 20 minutes, plus 50 of which is simmering
Make ahead: This is best with hot rice, but it re-heats reasonably for lunch the next day.

Reaction
J: "A true favorite."
M: "A nice hint of summer..."

Monday

Spiced coconut red lentil soup (recipe in the comments)
Ginger snow peas and peppers
Pita

Hot tea
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So if you read regularly, you'll know that we have a love affair going with the red lentil. It's a high protein legume that cooks incredibly quickly and is flavored by whatever you mix with it. It's a mainstay of several of our Indian recipes. So, when I saw this soup for a slightly more Thai way with the red lentil, I jumped on it. The soup is made with red lentils sauteed with onion, ginger, and garlic. These simmer in broth and then the whole thing is pureed and mixed with coconut milk, lime juice and basil. It's WONDERFUL! I think Thai basil would be even better!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onion, ginger, garlic, basil, snow peas, peppers
Time: 40 minutes, 25 of which is simmering
Make ahead: No problem.

Reaction
J: "This is totally unique and wonderful!"
M: "A new way with lentils."

Sunday

Hamburger casserole (recipe in the comments)
Broccoli

Hot tea
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This is another one of M's Grammie's recipe (see Grammie's sauce), often referred to as American Chop Souy. It's a very basic, comforting casserole, and, as such, doesn't fit into our typical menu. That said, both of us are suckers for comfort and tradition. We had planned this to be a meal this week before today, but it seems especially fitting tonight as we had a somewhat rough Mother's Day. T was *not* in the spirit of the day - or really of anything. So, a lot of today was a trial and comfort seems paramount. Regardless of the troubles today, I'm grateful to be a mom and even more grateful for the preponderance of good days we have with T. Most people are shocked that he's a "terrible two" :)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onion
Time: 15 minutes tp prep, 30 minutes to bake
Make ahead: You can even freeze this and reheat.

Reaction
J: "Thanks Grammie! Happy Mother's Day!"
M: "Childhood memories..."

Saturday

Stir fried noodles (recipe in the comments)
Shrimp shu mei
Oranges

Hot tea
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This is an ancient recipe of ours that we don't make often anymore. I think it may have even been our first attempt at Asian inspired food. The original recipe came out of a book I got M for Christmas when we were in college. We have changed it so much though that I'm not sure the author would recognize it at this point :) The stir fry is chock full of veggies, but we often feel like it doesn't carry us through a full meal without an addition. Tonight that's the shu mei, but we have also added a thinly sliced pork chop to the mix to give it a bit more substance.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Scallions, ginger, garlic, squash
Time: 30 minutes
Make ahead: This is fine for lunch the next day, but very best fresh.

Reaction
J: "An old friend."
M: "Easy Asian."

Friday

Tortellini with spinach in broth (recipe in the comments from November 29, 2007)
Green beans with lemon butter

Hot tea
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We haven't had this in forever, but this is a favorite speed meal of ours. It has an elegance that you don't expect from something so easy. We've been making this for a long time and it used to be quite a regular when we were in need of a quick fix. Somehow it got out of the rotation and it's been about 18 months! Anyway, today was a welcome return. I think we're all glad it's the weekend and this was a good way to celebrate :)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Garlic, tomato
Time: 20 minutes
Make ahead: This is best done last minute because the tortellini absorbs so much liquid.

Reaction
J: "Rarely is soup this good."
M: "Speedy celebration."

Thursday

Egyptian edamame stew (recipe in the comments from May 20, 2008)
Kashi seven grain pilaf
Greek yogurt

Peppermint tea
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We love this meal, even though we have a lot of doubt as to its actual provenance. I have never eaten Egyptian food, but I don't imagine it's much like this. That said, this is a fantastic one dish meal - chock full of veggies and filling because of the edamame. We usually serve it over whole wheat cous cous, but saw the seven grain pilaf in the store and thought that would be a good twist. Neither of us is feeling top notch lately, and so a soothing stew seemed perfect. And in general it would have been except that the Kashi pilaf was crunchy. I don't mean pleasantly flavorful either - I mean unpleasantly textured. I cooked it for twice as long as the package suggested,and, while it was better than it seemed initially, I'm still not impressed. This is not a whole grain product that is going to go very far in this household :)

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onion, zucchini, garlic, cilantro
Time: 30 minutes
Make ahead: Absolutely, just make the pilaf (or whatever grain) last minute.

Reaction
J: "Excellent, but we'll do couscous next time."
M: "I disn't think the pilaf was *that* bad."

Wednesday - Out to dinner at Creekview

Today was date night and neither M nor I were feeling very adventurous. So, we decided to hit our local village tavern/restaurant. Even though it was drizzling a bit, we decided to walk - one the the best things about living in a village! It was lovely and spring-y and we had a great dinner, starting with salads and then chicken for M and pasta for me. It was laid back, comfortable, and excellent tasting. Creekview is a treasure and a place we eat often - for good reason!

Tuesday - Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!!!

Chili relleno casserole (recipe in the comments from January 10, 2008)
Melon
Corona

Hot tea

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We actually made this pretty recently - right after I re-started the blog in early January. We like this a lot and it's a favorite of T's, so it's not super surprising that it's a quick repeat, but it happens to be this week because we were looking for an easy Mexican inspired dish for the holiday and we seem to have a lot of eggs. This was an obvious choice :) The melons are coming in fast and furious right now and T has been loving them, so that seemed like a good side dish. I'm sure we'll have even more when they're in season locally :) Spring always seems like a hard time to be seasonal with produce - the stores have more that looks and tastes good and who really wants to still be making root vegetable stews and frozen veggie sides. It's a bit of a challenge for us.

Prep notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Scallions, grate cheese, melon
Time: 10 minutes to prep, 35-40 minutes to bake
Make ahead: You can prep this, refrigerate it and bake at the last minute.

Reaction
J: "Happy Mexican food!"
M: "Mui yummy!"

Saturday

Farfalle with salmon sauce (recipe in the comments from May 17, 2008)
Salad with creamy dill dressing

Hot tea
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We've only made this once, but we really liked it. Especially as T loves salmon, we're trying this again. I'm trying to make it a bit less spicy than last time so that he's more likely to enjoy it, but I suggest putting the full teaspoon of red pepper flakes in. We've noted that this is a high density period for pasta and salad. I think the spring weather has us feeling the draw of lighter recipes with more fresh vegetables than we make in the fall. Regardless of season though, this pasta is easy to make and fast to get on the table. Always perfect for a Monday night.

BTW: This was less like our recipe for trollop pasta than last time. We're not sure what we did differently.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Garlic, parsley
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: The sauce saves well, but toss it with fresh pasta.

Reaction
J: "Better than before and more unique! I wish I knew why."
M: "Excellent."

Sunday

Bean Bolognese (recipe in the comments from January 9, 2008)
Salad with balsamic dressing
Italian breadsticks (the thin cracker-like ones)

Hot tea
Derby Pie with mint ice cream
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This is a rich and hearty sauce, despite being vegetarian. We bought tons of plants today for our front yard and M worked incredibly hard, getting them all planted. He needed a Meal with a capital M. Since steaks weren't in the line up, this served very well. Something about the flavors of the carrot, celery, onion, tomatoes, and white wine is just magical and the beans soak it up wonderfully. We didn't have many leftovers, but T loved it the next night. This is a definite favorite!

We made the Derby Pie (a pecan pie with chocolate and bourbon) a day late because of T's illness yesterday. This is a lovely seasonal indulgence and was made more exciting this year by the addition of Hagen Daz's new 5 ingredient ice cream in mint flavor. It was PERFECT!


Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley, Parmesan
Time: 40 minutes
Make ahead: The sauce saves well. Make the fettuccine last minute.


Reaction
J: "Vegetarian Bolognese - who would think?"
M: "I liked this much better than I even remembered."

Saturday

Veggie burgers
Pasta salad
Chopped vegetable salad

Hot tea
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So, we were planning to have a barbecue tonight with some people I work with, but T got sick early this morning, calling off our plans. So, we had a mini barbecue just the three of us. T was seeming better by dinner time, so he enjoyed it too. Even without the guests grilling and having summer-y food seemed festive.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, lettuce
Time: 25 minutes
Make ahead: This isn't really great made in advance.

Friday

Spinach fettuccine with artichokes and tomatoes (recipe in the comments)
Radish and baby lettuce salad

Hot tea
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I'm not usually a big fan of sun dried tomatoes or spinach pasta. So it seems crazy that I printed this recipe out. Nonetheless, relatively recently, I did. We even decided to make it pretty quickly afterwards. Here's the most amazing part - it's wonderful and both the ingredients I usually don't like are a big part of why. The flavor combination is lovely. My only caveat is that the fresh spinach pasta has to be good. Wegman's brand worked very well!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Onion, artichokes, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, thyme
Time: 35 minutes
Make ahead: I would do this last minute.

Reaction
J: "Spinach pasta turns out to be excellent!"
M: "Spring-y, green, and satisfying!"

Thursday

Frozen vegetable soup with lemon chive cream (recipe in the comments)
Sauteed grape tomatoes with garlic

Hot tea
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I cut a recipe for brocolli soup with lemon chive cream out quite a while ago and it seemed very spring-y. When we planned to make it last week thoguh, I wasn't sure if this was going to be different enough than the fresh garlic broccoli soup we made back in March to make it worth having a second recipe in the repertoire. BUT we were pretty excited about the lemon chive cream, so we decided to try it. Thankfully, fate conspired to make sure this was different enough to be a repeat performer. When I opened the bag our broccoli was in to begin chopping it, I discovered it was completely infested with little tiny mites. Ahh, the occasional joys of organic produce :) Thankfully we had an equivalent volume of frozen mixed vegetables (Zucchini, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and onion) and so we punted with that. The result is so incredible that we have a new recipe! This is easy, unusual, and incredibly yummy. Enjoy!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Leeks, garlic, lemon zest, scallions, Parmesan
Time: 30 minutes (most of which is rice cooking time)
Make ahead: This was excellent for lunch the next day

Reaction
J: "I can't believe this is made with frozen veggies!"
M: "Serendipity in the frozen food aisle"