What's for Dinner Wednesday?

ball.and.chain · April 2014

What are you (or your SO) cooking up tonight?

QOTW (another from ATXMommas): What are your favorite items in your kitchen to cook with?

2brides · April 2014

I am going out to dinner before I volunteer. No idea what I'll get. I had this dilemma last week and then ended working late and getting a salad from Whole Foods.

I am going to bet that L takes the kids out to dinner because they have a late soccer practice.

While technically not in my kitchen, I LOVE my grill. It is by and far the most used piece of kitchen equipment we own. I love how convenient it is, how easy clean up is, and how it doesn't get the house hot in the summer. I grill meats, veggies, and even dessert out there!

healz413 · April 2014

I think we may have vegetarian (lentil) shepherd's pie tonight if @Manada is up for it. I'm on campus again today and won't be home until about 6 and I've got a lesser version of M's cold so I'm not really feeling up for cooking when I get home. I froze the shepherd's pie two weeks ago when I did my big cooking evening. If M or I don't feel up for that, we'll probably do spaghetti with the pasta sauce I froze two weeks ago and italian sausage.

I'm having a left over black bean burger today for lunch from the batch that I made this weekend. I'm thinking @atxmommas should share the recipe since they're such a hit in my house and @jazibel's house.

QOTW: I don't think I have any cool/interesting answers to this. I have a circulon frying pan and a circulon 3 qt pot that I like a lot. I have a serrated knife that I use for the majority of my cutting and chopping. It's significantly sharper than I can keep my chef's knife, so it is definitely my first choice for cutting onions. I've recently become a bit fan of using my garlic press. For years now I've been doing the chopped garlic in the big container from costco. But our local grocery store carries these bags of peeled garlic cloves for very inexpensive that make it so much faster to use fresh garlic than it used to be, so I've mostly switched over to that.

2momsinCA · April 2014

Grilled chicken, couscous with roasted tomatoes and salad. There will be slices of avocado all over this too since we were given 2 fairly ripe avocados from K's coworker yesterday. Also the chicken part is for me, K will skip the chicken but I'm not sure what her protein will be...

Of all the kitchen gadgets we have, the ones that get the most mileage are for sure the cast iron skillet and the mincing knife- it's shaped like a fan and rocks back and forth to mince my veggies. Also, I'm an old school fan of my salad spinner. I wash lettuce in it everyday for salad.

rkbo · April 2014

I have been craving the Zuppa Toscana soup from Olive Garden and I think I am going to try to make this soup on Sunday so that I can eat it all week.

https://www.tuscanrecipes.com/recipes/olive-garden-zuppa-toscana.html

I would make it tonight, but I am going to zip out to vegas Friday afternoon to see my better half for the weekend and I wouldn't want it to go to waste sitting in the fridge.

ATXmommas · April 2014

My go-to black bean burger recipe. I sorta made up this recipe – I adapted a recipe I had because I thought the burgers were too dry and came up with this. I usually throw in whatever veggies we have on hand. So, if we don’t have any carrots, no big deal. If we have a jalapeno or cilantro on hand, I’ll throw those in too. I’ve added roasted butternut squash and other veggies if we have leftovers that we need to eat soon. You could easily throw some spinach in here too. The key to getting the consistency right is the canned tomatoes – use a colander to strain as much liquid out as possible – and then adding enough dry ingredients at the end to be able to shape into patties. It’s always a little different based on what veggies I use. The ingredients below are what I use the most often.

Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients

1 can black beans drained & rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes drained

3 garlic cloves

¼ cup diced onion

¼ cup diced carrots

½ boiled sweet potato

1 roasted red bell pepper (I roast my own ahead of time)

½-1 tsp cumin

½-1 tsp salt

½ cup rolled oats

½ cups whole wheat bread crumbs (or panko)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375

Mix all ingredients except for oats & bread crumbs in large bowl. Transfer to food processor and pulse for about a minute until well mixed. Small chunks are okay, but mixture should be pretty well pureed.

Transfer back to bowl and add in oats and breadcrumbs. I usually mix in some ground flax and/or wheat germ as well if I have them on hand (I used wheat germ a lot during pregnancy for the extra boost of folic acid). You may need to add more breadcrumbs – the mixture needs to be firm enough to shape into patties. I just keep adding more dry ingredients until I get a good texture. Form into patties – I can usually get about 6.

Bake patties (you may want to spray some cooking spray on a cookie sheet to keep from sticking). Check after about 20 minutes to see if they are ready to flip. Bake another 20 minutes. Keep baking until both sides have a nice crisp on them.

ATXmommas · April 2014

This week's cooking has been a bit interrupted due to the crazy weekend I had (since I normally do all my cooking on Sunday). I think I'm going to make tacos with braised greens and beans - not too exciting, but I have a bajillion greens from my CSA share to use. What it lacks in excitement, it will make up for in nutrition - which I remind myself is sometimes all a meal needs to be.

QOTW: I suggested this question to B&C because I'm such a dork when it comes to kitchen-ware. I get giddy talking about the things I love.

First up, my 5-qt Calphalon saute pan - LOVE. Similar here - https://www.amazon.com/Calphalon-5-qt-Commercial-Hard-Anodized-Saute/dp/B005DYK94K/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1396453707&sr=1-2&keywords=calphalon+saute+pan. Use it all the time.

Next, my 7-qt Le Creuset dutch oven. It's pricy, but love, love, love it. I ended up getting it as a gift from my mom at about half the original cost. I found it at the outlet and was able to use a coupon. So worth the cost. It will last forever.

A wooden spatula that I received as part of utentsil set changed my life. Who knew? Everyone needs one of those.

Zayra got me aa 4-tbsp measuring cup as a stocking stuffer a year or two ago, and I use that sucker all the time. It's perfect for measuring small amounts of liquids rather than refilling a tbsp several times.

I'm going to look into the knive set that @twomomsintexas recommended and a mincing knife! I always use my butcher knife (another must have!), but a mincing knife sounds pretty awesome!

KH826 · April 2014

Well... as I mentioned in my TTT post yesterday, I have fallen off of the cooking wagon as of late. In fact, I sent an email to my wife earlier today that said: "I don’t even know what to suggest for dinner tonight. I don’t feel like cooking ever again. I don’t feel like eating much of what we have to cook with. I could live with green beans, cauliflower and veggie burgers… other than that I really don’t know. You can feel free to suggest something and make it. HAHA. Sorry, I think I have entered a new pregnancy stage called “I don’t feel like cooking anything except the baby growing in my belly, and I don’t feel like eating anything normal and will decide on a whim what I want. Like waffles.”

My wife has not yet responded to that little love note HAHA

QOTW: My giant skillet by far is my favorite piece of cookware. It cooks things sooooo fast and evenly and there isn't much I haven't tried making in there yet. It is my go-to kitchen gadget that I can't live without. When I am cooking that is. Which is apparently not right now.

holdingThumbs · April 2014

I have been trying a bunch of different quinoa recipes lately - this may be the plan for tonight:

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/quinoa-stuffed-poblanos-with-grilled-romesco-sauce

... although now I want waffles!

QOTW: Since cooking is a real passion of mine, I am very lucky to have received some amazing (and pricey) kitchen items as gifts. But, shhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell, my "can't live without" gadget is a ridiculously cheap rice cooker I bought at least 15 years ago at Target. Perfect rice every time - heaven!

SweetPea0307 · April 2014

I'm on my own for dinner tonight since my wife has to attend a lecture at school. I will either stop home between work and Spanish class to grab some leftover split pea soup that my wife made, or grab a burger on my way. Sad.

QOTW: Panini press. I'm not much of a cook, but even I can work this thing. It can take a boring sandwich and make it something special. It's a bit of a unitasker, which we usually avoid, but its well worth the space it takes up in our tiny kitchen.

ball.and.chain · April 2014

Tonight: teriyaki chicken on the grill with stir-fried garlic noodles and snow peas.

QOTW: We have a LOT of kitchen stuff, and I have to say we really do use most of it. My wife insisted on registering for high-end pots and pans when we got married (I think ours are All-Clad), and I think it makes a HUGE difference. They don't just cook more evenly, they also clean more easily. We received a couple of enameled cast-iron Le Creuset pots as gifts, which are amazing, and we do a LOT of cooking in regular old cast-iron (we have two skillets, a grill pan and a Dutch oven). We have a ton of knives (including my wife's knife kit from culinary school), but my go-to is a Santoku knife --it stays sharp forever and it is just the right size for a) my hands and b) cutting just about anything. And I love my stand mixer and food processor --they are luxuries but we use them all the time, and they make a lot of dishes much easier to pull off!

@2brides, we love grilling for all the same reasons! I rarely do it, since my wife is so much better at it, but it just makes dinner and clean-up soooo much easier. We start as early as March and usually push grilling season into November or early December, but once there is snow on the ground it's a little hard to access our grill. That would be a huge advantage to living somewhere a bit warmer!

ATXmommas · April 2014

@ball.and.chain - I have a regular cast iron Le Creuset skillet that I love, but I'm jonesing for a grill pan (we currently have a cheapy). Must remember when it's time to make my bday list!

2momsinCA · April 2014

@ATXmommas‌ my cast iron grill pan was the highlight if my last bday! I love that thing more than I should! I'm also just a huge fan if cast iron cookware in general. I think it's the primary reason K and I aren't anemic.

trisholio · April 2014

KH826 said:

Well... as I mentioned in my TTT post yesterday, I have fallen off of the cooking wagon as of late. In fact, I sent an email to my wife earlier today that said: "I don’t even know what to suggest for dinner tonight. I don’t feel like cooking ever again. I don’t feel like eating much of what we have to cook with. I could live with green beans, cauliflower and veggie burgers… other than that I really don’t know. You can feel free to suggest something and make it. HAHA. Sorry, I think I have entered a new pregnancy stage called “I don’t feel like cooking anything except the baby growing in my belly, and I don’t feel like eating anything normal and will decide on a whim what I want. Like waffles.”
My wife has not yet responded to that little love note HAHA

I know just how you feel! Nothing and everything has sounded good lately. I just end up eating what is easy to grab and that is getting old pretty quickly. Right now I am starving for pizza! But I don't dare go to the store this hungry, so I am eating soup.

Jazibel · April 2014

I'm making a moroccan-inspired lamb pie (but heavy on veggies rather than potatoes). We usually serve it with sour cream. I finished the prep this morning and will probably throw it in the oven in time for EV to get home. The lamb and veggies are on the stove, and the bottom crust just finished baking (I usually throw it in the oven for about 8 mins so its not soggy later).

My favorites are the countertop Breville convection oven and Vitamix. I use these everyday, often multiple times a day. Love, love, love them. I like our knives too - though I need to get them sharpened.

Jazibel · April 2014

2momsinCA said:

@ATXmommas‌ my cast iron grill pan was the highlight if my last bday! I love that thing more than I should! I'm also just a huge fan if cast iron cookware in general. I think it's the primary reason K and I aren't anemic.

Okay - I've been inspired I just added a cast iron skillet to my amazon cart. I've cooked with a friends and loved it, but just never got around to buying one.

@ATXMommas & @ball.and.chain - great topic and as an added benefit you've saved me from anemia (or at least this will hopefully improve it) ;-) Thanks!!

ATXmommas · April 2014

Jazibel said:
I'm making a moroccan-inspired lamb pie (but heavy on veggies rather than potatoes). We usually serve it with sour cream. I finished the prep this morning and will probably throw it in the oven in time for EV to get home. The lamb and veggies are on the stove, and the bottom crust just finished baking (I usually throw it in the oven for about 8 mins so its not soggy later).

My favorites are the countertop Breville convection oven and Vitamix. I use these everyday, often multiple times a day. Love, love, love them. I like our knives too - though I need to get them sharpened.

What I would do for a Vitamix!

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