What's for Dinner?

[Harriet]

blessed, that is a beautiful vegetable pie recipe. I'd agree with that article that it's a centerpiece. My gardening aunt used to insist that sweet potatoes should be grated first, not baked first, for recipes. (I will have to say that the rest of the family thought she was working too hard.) Did you use rapeseed oil specifically, or one you had on hand? I was wondering why rapeseed. Perhaps, to your family's taste (and probably to my taste), only half the garam masala? I wonder if less ginger as well. Do you have to cover or tent in any way in the oven to keep the filo top browned, not burnt? On the link you gave, I notice there are two similar recipes in photos below, but look how much more fat they have! This one is definitely the "pick".

Yes, we always enjoy spaghetti pasta. Chunks of bell pepper and onion tossed in with the boiling pasta are a given for us, whether we have pesto or marinara. We sometimes enjoy adding the treat of the Gardien brand of frozen meatless meatballs in either one of those. HRH likes to cut them in half and fry quickly in just a little coconut oil. That trick lets you use only a few for an attractive plate, while making sure they are nicely browned and appetizing. After all, their first ingredient is wheat, so with pasta, they are for fun and we don't need many.

[blessedw2]

I usually don't buy the oil they recommend - I use olive oil or canola etc simple oils -
- I don't like ginger either so I used less - this is definitely an Indian tasting - I really didn't notice the ginger as the garam Marsala gives out the flavor for this dish.

I think next time I will use Mexican spices instead- I can only take Indian tasting dishes to a point - I have this a 4 out of 5 dish
As it is

Also all the Ingredients were cut ahead so it wasn't a pain when cooking came

I will look for those meatless meatballs- I haven't seen them before but will look online. There is a store that I go to once in a while bc it's an hour away , that have vegetarian meatballs that are delicious but really expensive

We have a couple vegetarian restaurants about an hour away that are fantastic

It's so fun learning from you d Harriet ❤

[blessedw2]

dh wanted meatloaf ... so that's what we are having.
I have left over brown rice - heated it up.
I made broccoli with lemon butter sauce (a little goes a long way)
plain broccoli for dd older as she is here
I had a cantaloupe that needed using so I just cut it up
I have some cucumbers cut up.

[blessedw2]

Sunday piri piri tofu for me and dd younger - dh piri chicken

[blessedw2]

I like to cook throughly through a cookbook and then put it on the shelf after marking our favourites.

This time it will be: America's Test Kitchen The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-complete-vegetarian-cookbook-americas-test-kitchen/1120079024


(LOL WE HAD LEFT OVERS)

SO TONIGHT MARCH 22ND WE ARE HAVING:
Making Summer Vegetable Gratin tonight: zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, onion, garlic, thyme, 1 white bread torn, parmesan, shallots, basil. I will let you know how it went. was a hit with dd younger and myself. i would cut up stuff ahead otherwise it's a lot of work.

also making: ina gardens wedding soup with ground chicken/sausage meatballs for dh on for lunches.

dd younger is planning on making matzo ball soup this week.

[Harriet]

That sounds like a great read, blessed. I do like the idea of recipes that have to "make a cut" to get into a book. Somebody has vouched for whether they are good or not. America's test kitchen does a good job with attractive books.

I put a rather less popular book "on my radar" this morning because of a dr recommending it - Straight Up Food by Cathy Fisher. Fisher's job has been as a chef, cooking for (and teaching how to cook) for people who are coming off of medical fasting, who absolutely must stay away from oils and sugar, possibly salt and gluten, too. So the book wouldn't be for everyone. But she is really good with herbs and spices to get flavor, changing fried recipes so they can be made without oil, etc. It has a spiral binding (yay). But it is not by a big publisher and isn't very well known. Right now, not easy to find, either. There was one (one) on A-River and I didn't order fast enough. Now the price doubled from private sellers. Sigh. Oh, wait, now back down to something in between, lol. Here is her website anyway. I can read there while I'm watching the price show.

Also looking at The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot, which will lie flat and which gets a lot of great reviews as being easier to use with a better format than others. (Honestly, the other one I bought is like a child's - one recipe per two pages, very few recipes, and it will not lie anywhere near flat, so I keep losing the place.)

HRH tried Bubba's Burgers Vegetarian Burgers. (Bubba's is a big name-brand in our freezer sections here - big variety of products.) He was surprised to open them and find lots of actual whole peas and carrot pieces, etc., in the burgers. LOL! Bright colored. Nothing like other veggie burgers. He had a time trying to keep them from falling apart in the pan, as you can imagine. Not a bad taste, just an unusual idea of what people would expect in a veggie burger!

[blessedw2]

Wow: that site is wonderful!!! I can't wait to show dd younger. Sorry the price of the book as doubled... it looks great.

is the instant pot a pressure cooker (I have looked on line and it seems to be the same???)

I haven't tried the bubba burger... I noticed that the veggie burgers fall apart really easily too. I order the black bean burger at some restaurants but don't know how they keep them intake. I like portabella mushroom burgers with grilled veggies too!

Wishing you a great day d Harriet!

[blessedw2]

first time making ina gartens italian wedding soup ... I have found over and over again that she adds too much salt and in the chicken meatballs I found the same. Too much salt bc she also had parmesan and romano cheese in the meatballs. The broth was fine but the meat balls are way way to salty and I followed the recipe exactly.

so I pulled the meatballs and will just use the broth or buy the local non sauced meatballs from our local italian shop.
bought meatballs.. and bought bruschetta ... soup turned out really well. will not be using the chicken meat ball recipe with the salt. I like parmesan in meatballs but the parmesan and the romano cheese together was too much cheese in my opinion especially with the lightness of the chicken ground up. I am sure with half the salt she puts into the recipe the meatballs would have been good.


the veggies are cut for the summer veg gratin and will make for Thursday's dinner. with a nice salad.

[blessedw2]

dinner tonight march 23, 2017

terrine - grilled veggies layered to over lap later in plastic wrap in a small loaf pan... then use herbed goat cheese in middle and then overlap w veggies (cover with plastic) and refrigerate .... later make an arugula (rocket) salad and slice a piece for each salad. for this one it is eggplant, jarred red peppers, yellow peppers, zucchini, and what ever veggies need using.

Layers: roasted with olive s/p
thin eggplant
Zucchini thin
Carrots thin
Red onion thin
Red pepper
Then nutless pesto as dd younger is highly allergic to nuts
Then goat cheese herbed 1/4 "
Then layering backwards
Red pepper
Onion
Carrots
Zucchini
And fold over eggplant
Wrap over the plastic and put one can on top
Sit in fridge over night or do it in am
Slice and place on arugula and top w vinaigrette


then the summer veggie gratin that I was going to serve yesterday and the day before. all the cutting is done already

I have some raspberry sauce from a local gourmet shop for fruit. I have made this before ... super easy (I use Ina garten's raspberry sauce for ice cream)

had yesterday's wedding soup for lunch today.

[Twins' Mom]

Tonight we're having grilled chicken, roasted asparagus and sweet potatoes. Nothing like having oven and grill going. And just before food was all ready, dd announced she was taking a shower.