EdHart.me
For last night’s date night dinner, we wanted something with a little bit of an exotic flair and the March 2013 issue of Bon Appétit had a recipe for chicken Khao Soi (basically a coconut and curry style soup dish served over egg noodles) that looked so good on the cover that I absolutely had to try it!
My obsession with brussels sprouts started many years ago. Not having been force fed Brussels sprouts as a kid, I didn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to like them. To me, they looked like little cabbages and hey, I like cabbage, especially when it’s boiled in salty water and lathered in butter!
This is one of my “go to” recipes when I’m looking for something that’s fast, healthy & totally delicious! Especially if I’ve got some leftover brown rice in the fridge that I’m looking for something to do with. My version here is a knock off of a similar recipe that I saw in Runner’s World back in March and the variations are almost endless.
For me, stir fry comes in 2 categories: sweet and savory. This recipe is in the sweet category with a little heat mixed in. It’s really awesome and if you’re anything like me, you’ll look for a good excuse to have a second helping.
The thing I love about this one is that you can substitute the protein of your choice (shrimp, chicken, beef, tofu) and it’s still just as good. Also, play around with the veggie mix and get what you like. Be creative!
The technique here is key. Once you get the flow down, you can make all kinds of substitutions and come up with your own variation.
First, heat oil in a large pan or wok over medium high heat. Sauté the minced garlic & red pepper flakes briefly and then add the package of frozen veggies. Stir fry until they begin to get tender, around 5 minutes or so. Add the shrimp (read protein of your choice) and cook for 3-4 minutes until pink. Add 1/2 can of pineapple chunks and the juice as well as a generous pour of your jarred sweet & sour sauce. Stir fry together for another 2 minutes until all ingredients are hot & cooked. Serve immediately over brown rice.
My version of this serves 2 people generous portions with sometimes a leftover serving depending on how hungry we are. Use more shrimp & the full can of pineapple chunks (with 1/2 of the juice) and you can stretch it to serve 4. For an added crunch, consider throwing in some unsalted peanuts or cashews.
This is a delicious and really fast recipe and usually only messes up one pan, so cleanup isn’t bad. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do! Let me know what you think.
Friday night is usually family pizza night. With a houseful of children, getting pizza that everyone likes usually means multiple pizzas and compromises all around (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing!). And when you’re buying a lot of pizza, it can get pretty expensive, so we usually go the route of Little Caesars, Hungry Howie’s or Domino’s when they’re on special. Pretty standard fare.
After an entire day of laying hardwood floors in Elizabeth’s bedroom, I was pretty wiped out but still hungry for something different for our date night. Laying on the couch to rest my sore back (if you’ve ever laid hardwoods, you know what I’m talking about!), I flipped through the July issue of Bon Appétit
Making the transition from recipe to creation is both liberating and a bit intimidating. I’ve always considered myself a “creative cook,” but what that practically means is that I like to fuse together different recipes and tweak the ingredients if something else sounds better or if the ingredients are so obscure or expensive that it’s jut not worth going to the trouble.
Continuing with my recent obsession with bruschetta and bistro dinner experiences, our Date Night Dinner this weekend was a couple appetizer recipes that are standby faithfuls and that together comprised a meal. I was feeling a little under the weather and didn’t want anything too complicated to make and Laree wanted lighter fare so we decided to go with a Sun Dried Tomato, Basil and Feta bruschetta, and another with Shrimp, Tarragon and Arugula. Then, because I wanted something sweet to compliment the flavors and because peaches are in season in Alabama, we tagged on Roasted Peaches with a Balsamic Vinegar Reduction.
For Laree & my Date Night Dinner this week, we basically combined a series of appetizers into a meal. I got inspired for this by a couple of things. First of all, how often have you fixed a killer appetizer that was so good you weren’t hungry for the main course after eating it all up? Happens to us all the time. And with all the spring time fruits and vegetables hitting their peak, I wanted a smorgasbord of fresh and healthy flavors that would satisfy and celebrate the beginning of summer and kind of balance each other out and create a full meal.