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Category Archives: Side Dish
Dinner Tonight: Cream of Mushroom Soup with Elbows
Sean’s at a work outing tonight which means I’m on my own. I don’t have any problems cooking for myself, but when I thought about what I really wanted, it was clear: cream of mushroom soup with elbows, please.
While technically this dish is “cooking” — it’s not more than boiling some pasta and heating up that classic can of Campbell’s soup. You might think, “Really, Kerry? You can do better than that!” Sometimes, you just have to go with a classic. And, this dish…is a classic.
It’s classic dad food. It was one of the several dishes (including chili dogs and kielbasa) he’d throw together on nights when my mother wasn’t home. These dad classics were all foods she did not like, so when she was out, they were in.
To me, there’s something so comforting in a big bowl of cream of mushroom soup with elbows (bow ties are also acceptable.) It’s warm, creamy, and when topped with a hefty sprinkle of black pepper, nicely spicy. And it reminds me of being a kid.
Cream of Mushroom Soup with Elbows
Makes 1 very large bowl, but probably reasonable to split into 2 if you want to share
Thanks, Dad!
1 10 oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 10 oz. can water
3 oz. elbow pasta (or bow ties), boiled and drained
Black pepper, to taste (I like lots!)
In a medium pot, stir together the soup and a can of water. Whisk together until combined. Bring to a boil. Toss with pasta. Sprinkle with black pepper to taste. Ladle into a bowl. Be happy.
Posted in Comfort Food, Cuisine, Main Dish, Pasta, Quick & Easy, Recipe, Side Dish, Soup, Starch, Vegetarian
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Fish Taco Wraps with Simple Slaw
Sean and I headed to Albany this weekend for a pre-Thanksgiving celebration while his sister was in town from Reno. We spent Saturday at the New York State Harvest Fest where we sampled lots of NY State wine and foods. Then we had dinner with the family — roast pork, cabbage, latkes, and homemade applesauce.
On the drive home on Sunday morning we discussed our dinner plans. We decided to make fish taco wraps to use up a lot of the stuff we had in the fridge and freezer. Far from a gourmet meal, I bought frozen fish sticks at Whole Foods a few weeks ago (way better than the fish sticks you remember as a kid!) and used those.
Way better than Gortons!
Fish sticks, chimichurri sauce, simple slaw, and avocado. Yum!
I also had a quarter of a head of cabbage and a zillion carrots and red onions, so I whipped up this simple slaw to go with the tacos. I love a little cabbage on my tacos — and it’s fairly traditional when you get tacos from authentic taquerias. I also love slaw on sandwiches for an extra crunch and tang.
A note: I use a special vegetable peeler to shred my carrots. It’s a pretty awesome tool. But you can also just julienne the carrot with a knife — or just buy a package of pre-shredded carrots (I won’t tell!)
Oh yeah, I also baked a whole bunch of cupcakes for work — food porn below.
Simple Slaw
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 medium head of cabbage, thinly shredded
1 large carrot, shredded
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
In a small bowl, combine vinegar, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder, and honey with a small whisk. Slowly whisk in canola oil.
In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage carrots, and red onion. Pour the vinaigrette over the shredded vegetables and toss well to combine.
Simple Slaw for Tacos
Cupcakes -- yellow with chocolate icing by popular demand.
Posted in Cabbage, Carrots, Cuisine, Healthy, Mexican, Recipe, Side Dish, Tools & Equipment, Vegetables, Vegetarian
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Kale and Butternut Squash
One of the reasons I started getting Boston Organics delivery is because I wanted a reason to be creative. I figured that if I didn’t have a say about what I was getting each week, I’d need to create new, delicious dishes. This is one of them. It’s super simple and a great way to use up scraps of butternut squash — which was the starting point for this particular brainstorm. You need about 10-minutes to get this on the table and it’s super nutritious, too!
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups butternut squash, diced medium
1 tsp. chili powder
1 bunch kale, roughly chopped
salt, to taste
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick saute pan. Add the garlic and cook for a minute but don’t let brown or burn. Add the butternut squash and chili powder and cook, tossing or stirring frequently, for about 5-minutes until mostly tender.
Add the kale and cook until the kale is tender and cooked, stirring often. Add salt to taste.
Posted in Kale, Quick & Easy, Recipe, Side Dish, Squash, Vegetables, Vegetarian
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Chim Chiminey Chimichurri
What can I say about chimichurri? It’s delicious. Versatile. Easy to make. Check. Check. Check.
Chimichurri is like pesto’s zestier, lighter, Latin cousin. It’s an Argentinian sauce that is traditionally served with grilled meat. I think you can use it on anything. Eggs. Pasta. Fish. Bruschetta topping. Use it as a salad dressing base. It would make a good dip mixed with some sour cream and mayonnaise — heck, skip the dairy and just scoop it up on its own with a chip.
It was even my secret weapon served as a condiment in this year’s chili contest — while I think my chili was great, I’m pretty sure the chimichurri sauce put a seal on my first-place finish.
While this is hardly *my* creation, I’ve never actually followed any sort of recipe while making it. This is how I throw it together.
Chimichurri
1 small bunch cilantro
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley
1/4 small red onion
2-3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
optional, pinch red pepper flakes
Toss the cilantro, parsley, onion, garlic, and vinegar into a food processor. Pulse a few times to chop everything up. Add the olive oil and whiz until everything is finely chopped and it’s a relatively smooth sauce (it will look pesto-ish.) Season with salt and pepper until it tastes good to you. Add the red pepper flakes if you’re feeling spicy.
Chimichurri served over eggs and potato cakes.
Posted in Appetizer, Main Dish, Recipe, Side Dish, Vegetarian
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Crispy, Oven-fried Eggplant
Recently, I had an eggplant hanging around and I had some leftover spaghetti sauce, so it made sense to make eggplant parmesan. I didn’t really want to take the time to fry it — plus, I really hate the mess that frying makes. And, while I do LOVE fried foods, I’m also trying to be more conscious of what I’m shoving into my face.
So, I decided to oven-fry my eggplant — and it came out DELICIOUS! It made for fantastic eggplant parm. And tonight, I decided to oven-fry another eggplant and stuff it into pitas with hummus and call it dinner.
Ok, ok, I know you’re wondering, “What the hell is oven-frying!?!” Basically, by oven-frying, I’m referring to breading a product and then cooking it in the oven at a super high heat so that it gets a nice, crispy texture that’s somewhat close to the texture you’d get when frying. I do this a lot with poultry, fish, and veggies — this is the first time I’ve tried it with eggplant.
I think it might actually be the best version of oven-frying I’ve tried. It was super crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. Aside from eggplant parm, and pita stuffing, I this eggplant would also be great on homemade pizza or just munching on as a snack.
Crispy, Oven-fried Eggplant
1 eggplant, cut into 1/4” rounds
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup egg beaters (or a few eggs, beaten)
1/2 – 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Spread the eggplant out over a cookie sheet. Sprinkle liberally with salt and wait 15-20 minutes. The salt will draw out water from the eggplant and you will see water start pooling up on top of the eggplant. After 15-20 minutes, use a paper towel to dry off the water — this will also remove some of the excess salt.
Set up a breading station — flour, eggs, and bread crumbs. Dip the eggplant into the flour and shake off the excess. You only need a thin layer of flour. Then dip into the egg and then the bread crumbs. Evenly coat the eggplant with breadcrumbs.
Place the breaded eggplant slices on a cookie sheet that you thinly coated with oil (or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Flip the eggplant and bake for another 10 minutes. Eggplant should be brown and crispy.
Posted in Appetizer, Eggplant, Healthy, Main Dish, Quick & Easy, Recipe, Side Dish, Vegetables, Vegetarian
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Parmesan Pasta with Peas
Sean and I were driving home from Albany the other night and we were hungry. Of course, I had to make a pit stop at the one rest area on the Mass Pike that only had McDonalds. So, instead, we got some Chex Mix to tide us over. By the time we got home, there was only time to throw together something quick and this did it. It was super easy to make with basic pantry items — and it was super delicious. Just what we needed after a long drive.
Sidebar: I love frozen peas. As a kid I always hated peas — I grew up with canned peas and I hated the mushy mouthfeel. Imagine my surprise when I tried fresh peas for the first time as an adult. They were so delicious. I find that frozen peas taste closer to fresh peas than canned peas. They are easy to always keep on hand, cheap, and good to toss into everything from rice to soup to pasta. An easy, peasy way of getting some veggies, too.
Parmesan Pasta with Peas
Serves 2
6 oz. pasta of your choice*
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. shallots, finely chopped
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Salt and pepper, to taste
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a big pinch of salt and the dried pasta. When the pasta is about 1-minute from al dente, toss in the peas. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Once the butter is melted and bubbly, add the shallots and cook 2 minutes or until soft. Toss in the cooked pasta and peas. Add parmesan cheese, parsley, and pine nuts. Stir to combine. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
* I used a combination of angel hair and pasta shaped like little snails because that’s what I had. Anything tubular or shell shaped works particularly well with this because it gives the peas a place to settle so you get peas with every bite. However, in a pinch, any pasta will work.
Posted in Comfort Food, Cuisine, Healthy, Main Dish, Pasta, Peas, Recipe, Side Dish, Starch, Vegetables, Vegetarian
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Asian-y Noodles with Grilled Chicken
I thought of this recipe on the way home today. Sean and I didn’t have very much in the fridge, but I knew we had some cabbage and some chicken that we needed to use up. I always have tons of flavorful pantry items (spices, vinegars, sauces, etc.) so it was easy to throw together. It turned out great. The noodles themselves were great served at room temperature — perfect for a warm evening like tonight.
You can serve this as a main dish with chicken (as written here) or shrimp; you might also serve as a delicious vegetarian dish by forgoing the meat all together.
Asian-y Noodles with Grilled Chicken
For Dressing:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 tsp. toasted sesame oil
4 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
Juice of a lime
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. siracha sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
For Salad:
1/2 lb. fettucini
1/2 small head green cabbage, thinly shredded
1/2 small head red cabbage, thinly shredded
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 green onions, sliced
2 tbsp. chives, chopped
1 medium carrot, julienned
1 large chicken breast
Toasted almonds
Put ingredients for the dressing into a small bowl; whisk to combine.
Boil the fettucini noodles for about 10 minutes until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water until the noodles are cool to the touch. Drain well. Toss together with the cabbage, onions, chives, and carrots until all ingredients are mixed together well. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.
Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper (or, you could also marinate in teriyaki, hoisin, or any other asian-type sauce.) Grill until temperature reaches 165 degrees and slice.
To serve, place some salad in a large bowl. Top with sliced grilled chicken. Garnish with sliced almonds and sesame seeds.
Posted in Appetizer, Asian, Cabbage, Carrots, Chicken, Comfort Food, Cuisine, Fish, Healthy, Main Dish, Meat, Recipe, Side Dish, Vegetables, Vegetarian
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