Tag: Bon Appetit

The Grain Bowl of Your Dreams

Lauren5 Comments

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Bon Appétit regularly posts this picture and in what I can only assume is an act of pure cruelty, the link takes you to a recipe for some Turmeric-Tahini dressing and NOT to a recipe for that delectable-looking grain bowl.  Why, Bon Appétit, WHY?  Well last week, I took a closer look at that grain bowl and decided I could probably do it up myself.  And guys, I gotta say, I think I nailed it!

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We made this salad the week before (which, for the record, is phenomenal and will be in regular rotation from now on), so we had leftovers of both the lemon dressing and the tahini that came in really handy for said grain bowl.  Basically, it went like this.

  • Cook wild rice and mix it with a few tablespoons of lemon dressing
  • De-rib and finely chop a head of lacinato kale, then massage with lemon dressing
  • Roast two sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper
  • Pan-fry some slices of halloumi cheese
  •  Assemble bowl with rice, kale, sweet potatoes, cheese, a handful of sunflower seeds, a sprinkle of parsley (though next time I’ll use dill) and a generous drizzle of tahini

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In other news, an alternate title for this post would be: WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT HALLOUMI CHEESE?!  It tastes like Muenster, but saltier and non-melting, so you can actually grill/pan-fry slices of it until golden brown.  I mean, it’s also NOT cheap.  But for special occasions, like a Wednesday night, ya know?  Life as we know it has now changed.

So what do you think, Bon Appétit, am I hired? 🙂

Dinners This Week

LaurenLeave a comment

I am trying this new thing where I don’t post two food photos in a row on Instagram.  Partly as a challenge to myself to capture other parts of my life and partly because I don’t want to be that person.  Though I’m pretty sure posting as often as I do already makes me that person.  Oh well!  But that doesn’t mean I didn’t take any food pictures this week, just that I didn’t post them all.  Till now, because I’m about to share all our dinners from this past week.  Pretend you care, okay?

Sunday: Radicchio, Fennel & Olive Panzanella

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Here’s the thing.  Loved everything about this except the radicchio.  In fact, it is at this point in life that I’m comfortable saying I don’t need to eat radicchio ever again.  But I would (and will) totally make this again with another leafy base, like arugula.  We made croutons by toasting chunks of French bread tossed with olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper and we could not get over how good they were.  Gimme a bowl of just those croutons, please!

Monday: Mustard-Glazed Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

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Cooking Light did this new thing where they gave a “master recipe” that made a TON of roasted veggies, then two recipes that made use of those veggie leftovers.  GENIUS!  Sadly, this chicken recipe didn’t really wow me.  It was good (but what isn’t good when it’s coated in mustard sauce?!), but not great and I felt like something was missing… like cheese or something rich.

Tuesday: Roasted Vegetable Soup + Goat Cheese Toasts

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Two thumbs up for this being the easiest recipe ever.  Since the veggies were already roasted, all we had to do was combine it with chicken stock and some spices, then puree and top with crumbled bacon and chopped parsley.  Again though, good not great.  We felt like the soup itself was missing something.  Luckily, the bacon saved the day.  The goat cheese toasts were simple and probably didn’t require a recipe but you know, you had me at goat cheese.

Wednesday: Denver Deep Dish

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Serious Question: How often do you go out to eat?  We probably eat out three times a week and sometimes I feel like that’s a lot and other times (like after I read this column), I feel like that’s pretty good.  The pizza place down the street just started doing Wednesday night trivia and this makes my heart so happy.  It was tough but we came in second.  And this personal deep dish spinach and sausage pizza is always a winner.

Thursday: Egg Sandwich + Sliced Radishes & Flaky Salt

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Okay, confession.  When Joey is not home to eat dinner with me, I eat weird things.  Like last week’s lettuce and hummus tacos.  I guess this is an indicator of how I would eat if I was single.  This week’s dinner craving wasn’t all that strange but definitely more spontaneous than re-heating Tuesday night’s soup.  I just sautéed some spinach then added eggs and goat cheese, scrambled it all up and stuck in between two pieces of toasted Ciabatta.  Yeah, I’m still riding that egg obsession hard.

Friday: Roasted Vegetable and Spinach Turnovers + sautéed green beans

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The last use for our roasted veggies!  The recipe called for French Bread dough but I said no thanks and made my pumpkin pizza dough instead.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… it never fails!  And it was also the star of this dinner.  For as cute as these turnovers were, the filling was pretty lackluster.  One ounce of cream cheese for four turnovers = not enough cream cheese.

So overall, it was a quick and easy week of dinners but not the best recipes I’ve ever tried.  You win some, you lose some.

What was the best dinner you cooked/ate this week?