Swordfish with Grilled Nectarines and Avocado Salsa

This is one of those dead simple dishes that is so good. Peter grilled swordfish, Nantucket-style (basically, drenched in mayo :). We also put a halved firm nectarine on the grill, which had been brushed with some olive oil.

When those were finished, I cut cup an avocado, the grilled nectarine, and mixed them both with the juice of half a lime. This would work equally well with peaches and plums.

Happy summer grilling and eating to all!

Soba Noodles with Salmon

A few weeks ago, I went over to a girlfriend's house for lunch who is also at home on leave with her sweet baby girl. She made this incredible salad with soba noodles, which I'd strangely never eaten before. So good!

Gorgeous wild-caught sock eye salmon was on sale at the grocery store, so that got added to my re-creation of her salad. If you use prepared smoked salmon, this would be a nearly no-cook meal since you just need to boil the noodles for 6 minutes or so!

Soba Noodles with Salmon

You will need:
3/4 lb salmon (or prepared smoked salmon - see above)
1 lb package soba noodles
1 cup arugula
1 diced avocado
1/2 English cucumber, sliced into half rounds
Scallions
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Juice of half a lime
Salt and pepper

Grill the salt and pepper covered salmon. Peter's been making little foil packets with water soaked wood chips to put at the back of the grill, and the grilled the fish at the front over indirect heat. Delicious! It does take about double the amount of time this way - our cooked for about 20 minutes with the cover on to trap the smoke from the chips.

Meanwhile, boil water for the noodles, and cook for 6-8 minutes. While the noodles cook, prep all your toppings. I also think slices of pepper, carrots, shredded cabbage, and cilantro would work beautifully in addition to or instead of arugula, avocado, and cucumbers.

Whisk the sesame oil, rice vinegar, lime juice, a bit more salt and pepper, and chopped scallions together for the dressing. Toss with the cooked noodles, and assemble the salad. This tastes great warm, at room-temperature, or cold, making it my new favorite summertime meal.

Surviving a Kitchen Re-model without Living on Take-Out

We are two and a half weeks into our renovations, which means we've also survived for two and half weeks without a real kitchen! This was one of the most nerve-wracking aspects of the remodel for me, so I thought I'd share a few tips.

The first is that if you can do your remodel during the warmer months of the year, it will make your life a bit easier so that you can grill or throw together quick no-cook meals. I'm hoping that over the next few weeks, we'll be able to grill a bit, too (the giant snow flakes currently swirling around outside might suggest otherwise, but I'm going to maintain my delusions).

Our cooking set-up relies heavily on our slow cooker and microwave - two gadgets I didn't use at all before this. I know many people use their slow cookers all the time, but I have trouble working out the timing of it. Why are so many recipes 4-6 hours long? If I had a fancy slower cooker with a timer, this wouldn't be an issue, but alas, I stole this one from my mom and I think it's probably 20 years old. To work around this, I've been focusing on recipes that require 8-10 hours, or just 2 hours, so that I can either start in the morning before I leave for work or throw it together immediately when I get home around 5:00 p.m.

These are a few of my favorites so far:

• Slow-cooked brisket and onions (8-10 hours on low)
• Easy chicken marbella (2 hours on high)
• Creamy chicken and mint curry (8 hours on low)
• Bourbon maple slow cooker baked beans (I added cut up kielbasa to this, too - 8-10 hours on low)

I've had a few failures, too, including this slow cooker mac and cheese (totally gluey). To round out these meals, I bought frozen pre-cooked rice, brown rice, and quinoa at Trader Joes, as well as some of their frozen risotto, gnocchi, and Indian meals for nights when a 2 hour slow cooked dinner isn't going to cut it. These actually remind me of the early days dating Peter, when we made these kinds of things all the time (and thought they were delicious! ha). 

The worst thing about the remodel is the lack of a sink. Our accessible bathroom is upstairs, so we do all our dishes there (and obviously have to go there to wash hands, fill up a water glass, etc.). Every night, we fill a giant water pitcher and bring that downstairs, which helps with a bit with the back and forth, and I've started using some disposable plates and bowls, though I feel kind of guilty about it. To minimize dishes, I've stopped making salads and simply through extra vegetables (fresh or frozen) into the grain when it's microwaving or near the end of a slow-cooked dish, like peas, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, kale, or arugula (which I treat like spinach). 

I think that's everything I've learned so far, which looks long, but is admittedly not that revolutionary! If I'm missing something genius that made your kitchen renovation more bearable, please let me know! I've still got at least 3-4 more weeks of this...

Getting Out of a Cooking Rut

This is a totally random post, but thought I'd share since this is notoriously one of the most difficult times of year to get inspired by cooking - at least in New England, where stocks of squash, onions, and cold-storage apples dominate the produce aisle.

My simple tip is add something different and slightly unusual to your grocery cart. In the last few weeks, I've gotten pineapple, sugar snap peas, pear infused vinegar, and uncured bacon. None of these are too off the beaten path, but individually, they aren't things that I'd usually pick up without a specific use in mind. But throwing something somewhat random into the mix is the perfect way for me to try new things, or remember old recipes I loved but haven't repeated for whatever reason.

In that last category, here are a few old favorites that I'm excited to make again soon:

• Warm butternut squash and chickpea salad
• Sugar snap pea and cucumber salad
• Nearly spring lamb stew
• Carrot and avocado salad
• Arctic char with gnocchi

Happy Candy Eating Day!

On the agenda for tonight:

• Watching Psycho (I've never seen it all the way through!)
• Making this for dinner (though I'm equally tempted by this)
• Fantasizing  about having this (!!!) for dessert, but I think all the kidlets in our new neighborhood will probably take all the candy first / I'll just eat any left-overs in their "natural" form 

Happy Halloween to all!

Polenta and Peas with Pork Sausage

Do you sometimes wish you could hear what everyone's planning to make for dinner that night around 3:30 p.m.? That's when I get a twitchy feeling, trying to weigh what I'm in the mood for against what I actually have in the house. This dinner sharing fantasy involves a Twitter hashtag, maybe with a quick link to a recipe. Reminders about all those good dinners you sometimes forget about - pasta with cauliflower and breadcrumbs, scalloped potatoes and ham, tacos with black beans and kale. Wouldn't that be great?

Anyways, I'm giving you a loose recipe below, but you could certainly come up with something good based on the title alone. I've had this in my "to make" cue for more than six months, and I finally got around to creating a lazy weeknight version of it. To adapt it for a much speedier cooking time, you obviously need to skip the homemade sausage. I used a few sweet Italian sausages that I just removed from their casing.

I made real polenta - as opposed to instant, which would certainly speed this up further - but I always use the oven baked method. To do that, you combine 1 cup cornmeal with 4 cups of water, plus a big pinch of salt. Sometimes I add dried rosemary if I'm feeling fancy/have some on hand. Bake that at 325 for an hour, topping it with a few pats of butter at the end. Very creamy, very easy polenta every time, without the arm workout.

Polenta and Peas with Pork Sausage
Adapted from Food52

You will need: 

Polenta (see above)
3-4 sweet Italian sausages, casing removed
1 medium yellow onion, small dice
2 carrots, small dice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock, or water
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Chopped parsley

Get your polenta going right away (if not using instant) because that takes about an hour. About 40 minutes into cooking the polenta, heat a cast iron skillet to medium and add a glug of olive oil. Brown the sausage pieces then remove from pan. Turn down the heat slightly then add the onions, garlic, and carrots and gently cook until soft. Pour in the wine and then add the stock or water once the wine has reduced by half. Add the sausage and peas to the pan, and heat until the peas are cooked. Grate in the Parmesan cheese, and serve over polenta. Sprinkle parsley on top.

Glimpses of Fall + Lemony Arugula and Apple Salad

Last weekend we went up to Crane for a beautiful final beach day of the summer. On the way home, we stopped at Russell Orchards, and it was like being literally thrust into autumn. Pumpkins and corn stalks and apples galore.

I bought a half dozen Cortland apples that I've been snacking on throughout the week. They're so crisp and perfect! Last night Peter grilled a brined pork tenderloin (on our new-to-us Weber grill that I'd been searching on Craig's list for for weeks!), and he threw together this dead-simple salad to go along with. It's a basic dressing with olive oil, a forkful of Dijon, salt, pepper, and the juice of one small lemon (so, very lemony!). Then add in thin slices of apple, toss, and enjoy. This would work just as nicely with kale as the season progresses, too.

Are you feeling ready for fall? Or trying to hold on to summer as much as possible? I'm trying to a little bit of both in this funny in between time of year.

Fried Avocado Tacos

Do you ever leave posts in your drafts folder for no apparent reason? I've had one post on songs I always have stuck in my head in drafts for over a year (aren't you dying to know what they are now?! I'll just tell you: it's mostly Christmas music that I sing year round, much to Peter's delight!).

I've had this photo of fried avocado tacos saved in that folder for a while, too, which is real shame, because they are delicious and not as hard as they sound. You will like them!

I used this basic recipe, but much lazier. First, make sure you're starting with a perfectly ripe avocado - not too mushy and not too firm (though if I were swinging in one direction or the other, it would be the firm side). Slice it up into 1 inch strips, give it a dip in a scrambled egg, and then gently toss it in panko. I heated up about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil - much less than they call for in the recipe - and just flipped them around a few times to get everything nice and crispy.

That white stuff at the top was a genius addition (if I do say so myself!) - a big spoonful of plain Greek yogurt, chopped cilantro, lime juice, and crumbled blue cheese. I made blue cheese guacamole once a long time ago, so I knew it would work well with the avocado. Then add whatever other toppings you want - rice, corn, beans, etc. (I'm reading this right now, as Jess said, it makes me crave tortillas!).

Have you made these yet? I hear they're all the rage in Austin!

Gnocchi with Lentils and Prosciutto

When we were in Montreal, we had the most decadent, duck-fat filled creation at Au Pied de Cochon with gnocchi, lentils, and all kinds of meat. We tried to re-create it at my parent's house about a month ago, and it was delicious, but I wanted to see if I could do again with an even more humble interpretation since we used an amazing duck liver mousse the first time around.

I'm know I just said I'm desperate for spring flavors, but as we hunker down for yet another snow storm (!), this kind of comforting, stick to your ribs food still feels right. The ingredient list is a little long, but you could sub out anything on it (except the gnocchi and lentils!). Celery, cauliflower, broccoli, and kale could all be nice additions, and I think a vegetarian version would be just lovely.

I've done my best with the directions, but this loose recipe is bound to frustrate you rule-followers in our midst :) If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments!

Gnocchi with Lentils and Prosciutto

Serves 4
You will need:

1 package potato gnocchi
1/2 cup lentils
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced and halved
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms (we used oyster)
3 slices prosciutto, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup liquid - water, stock, wine, and cream (I used some of each)

The original dish had pickled beets - divine. In place of that, I used a small bundle of broccoli rabe for some bitterness. Also, a warning: regular beets will turn the dish pink :) The original was also meatier - feel free to add sausage, duck, chicken, or pate of some kind if you're feeling fancy!
Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Boil the lentils for a bit, just to get them going in the cooking process - maybe 15 minutes. You don't want to turn them into mush since they cook in the oven, too. While those are cooking, saute the vegetables in a bit of butter until soft, about 10 minutes. In a casserole dish, combine the uncooked gnocchi, lentils, and vegetables. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add liquid until you can see it come up the sides, but don't submerge everything - I'd guess you need about a cup total. Place the torn pieces of prosciutto on top - the liquid you added shouldn't really make these wet at all.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the gnocchi is soft and the prosciutto is crispy.

Taco Tuesday

(via Etsy)

Peter and I have had a heavy heart these last few days, and I know you all have, too.

On Facebook yesterday, my friend Katie shared the eulogy for a little boy named Noah, given by his mom at his funeral. Noah's mom mentioned all kinds of wonderful things he loved - Wii Super Mario Brothers, his sweet twin sister Arielle, and tacos. In that brilliant way that only kids can do, Noah came up with one of the greatest slash careers ever: doctor/soldier/taco factory worker.

One of Katie's friends commented that she was going to make tacos for dinner in honor of Noah, and I thought, yes, that I can do.

It's easy to see why Noah loved them so: tacos are fun, and they bring people together. They can make an otherwise ordinary Tuesday seem extra special. Picking from communal bowls, eating something messy in front of people you love - these things seem silly at the moment, but that probably means we all need a taco dinner more than ever.

So tonight, I'll be making tacos in honor of Noah, and everyone else that we lost in Sandy Hook last Friday. I'd like to invite you to join me, if you are so inclined.

P.S. Here are a few easy recipes, in case you're stuck.

Tomato Sauce Alternatives

This is one of the more random tidbits I've blogged about, but I wanted to share a few "sauce" alternatives for pizzas that don't involve tomatoes (darn you, tomato allergies!). Many of these also work as pasta sauces!

The one has pureed butternut squash as a base (it also has caramelized onions, salami, goat cheese, and parsley). I've also used:

• Sweet potato puree
• Thinly sliced white potatoes
• White bean puree (or better yet: roasted fennel and white bean puree)
• Pesto 
• Creamed greens
• Fig and olive tapenade

These might sound super strange, but I promise, they're really good! Especially the tapenade :) 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apple and Pancetta

I made these Brussels sprouts last week, and they were so good and easy, I had to share. Anybody still looking for Thanksgiving sides? These would be lovely.

The Brussels sprouts were quartered, doused in olive oil and salt, and went into the oven at 400 degrees. While those were getting started cooking, I peeled and chopped an apple, and added the apple and about 1/4 cup of chopped pancetta to the roasting pan. I gave it a shake, and let it hang out for another 15-20 minutes - just until the Brussels have some dark spots and a few crispy leaves.

I served it all on top of blue cheese grits (You know the secret to making any side a main, right? Add a grain).

Hope you are all have a fantastic November! Peter and I are home today for Veteran's Day, and we're going to bop out to Concord for a healthy dose of the natural world on Walden Pond.

Dinner and a Movie

Peter and I used to be dedicated dining room eaters - at the table, candles lit, cloth napkins, music on - the whole thing. We've lately fallen into a routine of eating at the coffee table and watching a show, and while I know I'm probably supposed to feel bad about this shift, it's pretty fun. When I was a kid, I loved when my sister and I got permission to eat dinner in the family room, usually sitting the floor watching something awesome. Being able to do this whenever I want still feels like a great grown-up perk. 

Earlier this week, I made the rice noodle dish above. I cooked the chicken using this recipe. It filled up the kitchen with smoke, but it was truly amazing. The skin was so crispy and, true to Bon Appetit's claim, it was almost bacon-like! So temporarily remove your smoke detector battery and have at it :) The rest of the dish is just peanut sauce, stir fried broccoli, and scallions.  

While we were ohhing and ahhing over chicken thighs, we watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi (streaming on Netflix!). It is a great look at what it means to be truly passionate about something and hold yourself to incredibly high standards. I am often teasing Peter about his deep perfectionist tendencies, and Jiro made this quality look endearing (though I'm not sure his apprentices would agree). Deeply inspiring, and I highly recommend it.

Grits with Fresh Corn, Caramelized Onions, and Smoked Trouts

I went to college in the south, but my only experience with grits there were of the dining hall variety. Not pleasant. Now that I try to maintain a gluten-free existence, I'll try just about any grain I can eat.

I am now in the midst of a hot and heavy love affair with the stone ground grits. My usual method is to cook them according to the Trader Joe's package, and then add cheese and some kind of topping (pesto, roasted vegetables, chicken, sausage - anything!) at the end.

With these, I made the grits all the way through the "add milk" step at the end. I added a little bit of extra milk and also an ear of corn cut of the cob. These would be good with almost any topping, or on their own. But for this dinner added blanched green beans, caramelized sugar onions, flaked smoked trout, and a bunch of torn basil. Oh my!

Are you on team grits yet? I'm cursing the years I wasted thinking I didn't like them!

An Evening at Home

I love those day-in-the-life posts that sometimes gain momentum on the blogs. But my day between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. looks pretty much like you would imagine - I sit in front of my computer, and occasionally get to chat with co-workers about fun projects. I like my job a lot, but it's not much to look at :) Evenings make up my favorite hours of day. Reading, cocktails, dinner (and some laundry - there's always laundry, yes?).

Here's my living room on a normal night. Floppy couch cushions, shoes, a library book, and Peter's lap top perched on the arm rest so he can see up-to-the-minute fantasy baseball stats (or something equally lame entertaining).

This pretty thing above is gin and soda with muddled cucumber, basil and lime juice. We had these slightly more fancy drinks because, yay, it's Thursday! My favorite sort of occassions.

We're heading to the Berkshires this afternoon, so I did laundry last night and packed while I was folding. Do you ever do that? Multitasking at its best. Though you do end up wearing the same things that you wore the week before, ha!

For dinner, Peter made a marinade for tuna steaks with ginger, garlic, sesame oil and probably some other awesome stuff. I made rice with green beans, topped the tuna with some pickles red onions (an amazing addition, if I do say so myself), and threw together a salad. We finally watched the Mad Men finale (kind of a downer, am I right?!). After we had to watch an episode of the Larry Sanders Show with coffee ice cream to cheer up :)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Perhaps there's a gin cocktail in your future. Because yay, it's Friday!

Summer Rolls: My Warm Weather BFFs

Readers, I would like to introduce you to my favorite warm weather dinner - summer rolls.

This dinner requires little to no cooking, just assembling. Set out rice paper wraps, soak rice noodles in warm water for 10 minutes, arrange some vegetables and chicken or pork (or not!) on a platter.

I usually make a peanut sauce for dipping, sort of like this one (no soy sauce, though, ew). Soak the wraps in warm water, and then you are ready to fill them up, burrito style! Some things that are good inside: 

• Avocado
• Mint, basil, dill (any fresh herb you like, really)
• Lettuce 
• Carrots
• Radishes
• Pickled red onions or shallots
• Cucumbers
• Asparagus

What is your go-to summer dinner? 

P.S. A few other good ideas for summer :)

Sugar Snap Pea and Cucumber Salad

On our flight home, I flipped through the latest issue of Real Simple. I don't know if it was a week away from my kitchen, or just a craving for balance after all that wine and cheese, but the spring salad recipes looked amazing. 

During an epic re-stocking grocery trip, I made sure to pick up the ingredients for this sugar snap pea and cucumber salad. It has a super short ingredient list, but it's a combination I had never thought of. Sugar snap peas are sort of forgotten vegetable for me (and actually, I'm not quite sure what to do with the rest of the bag - any suggestions would be most welcome!).

We served this with grilled steak and herb rice - sounds fancy, but it just had butter, rosemary, dill and cilantro. Happy spring salad eating!

Sugar Snap Pea and Cucumber Salad
Courtesy of Real Simple*


You will need: 
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 English cucumber (about 3 inches of cuke?), thinly sliced
1/2 shallot, thinly sliced (I didn't have this, so I threw a splash of red wine vinegar into the dressing for a little bit of extra bite)


In a salad bowl, whisk the oil, lemon, ginger, sugar, salt, pepper and red wine vinegar (if using, see above). Add the peas, cucumber and shallot (if using). Toss together and serve. 


*I cut the original recipe in half to make only two servings - double if you need more!

Early Spring Picnic

It feels a little cruel to share these photos on such a cold and windy day. But this was just four days ago! I was wearing capri pants and I was too hot.

This little outing was arranged after a no-good-very-bad-day. Everyone who pays their own taxes in quarterly installments has a horror story or two to share. That day, we got one of ours.

But Peter is full of wise, good sense, and I am very optimistic. The horror faded quickly, and we remembered how crazy lucky we are. We have jobs; we have money in the bank. And we have a lake to visit on unseasonable warm afternoons in March.

Asian-style Wedge Salad

I take a lot of food pictures that never make there way to the blog. Usually they seem sort of obvious and ordinary with a little hindsight. Do you really need to see my quinoa tostadas or fancy grilled cheese, along with a brief explanation? I always tell myself you do not.

But this week I started thinking about the kinds of recipes I'm always on the look out for. These include: grains + veggie main dishes, one-pot meals, and salads. Lot of salads! So in that spirit, I'm sharing this one with you (even though my inner editor is still sort of asking why).

A little back story: In Disney World's Prime Time Cafe, of all places, I had a really good wedge salad. It was the standard BLT variety, with lots of blue cheese dressing (but no tomatoes, ew). Ever since, I've been on Team Wedge Salad. They are so easy to make, really inexpensive, and feel very light and summery.

This one is a slightly different take. It's a wedge with carrots, radishes, chopped cilantro, peanuts, and a peanut scallion dressing. It was good! Here's a loose version of the dressing I made, but you'll probably want to play around with it a bit.

Happy St. Patrick's Day weekend, all!

Peanut Scallion Salad Dressing

You will need:

1 scallion, white and pale green parts only, chopped very well
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
Big squeeze of lime juice (from about a 1/4 of a lime) + some zest, if you wish
Salt and pepper
Water or vegetable oil, as needed

Combine all ingredients but the oil/water in a bowl and mix very well with a fork. This will likely be quite thick, so add in additional oil or water until you have the desired consistency. I added about 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of water for a creamy, thick dressing. Makes enough for two wedge salads!

Here Comes the Sun

I bought a tiny bouquet of daffodils and a big pile of forsythia branches at Trader Joe's last weekend. They both slowly opened up throughout the week. I'm not usually drawn to yellow, but this shot of sunshine throughout the apartment is absolutely delightful.

That middle photo is an artichoke tart with polenta crust - basically the best thing I've made in a while. It was inspired by this recipe posted on The Wednesday Chef, but I'm not good at following recipes exactly. I subbed out the goat cheese with blue, replaced the scallions with leeks, and threw in a handful of grapes just for fun. Holy moly, this was good.

Happy mellow yellow Friday!