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Tonight I had to make dinner in a hurry -- Mr. Fritz picked me up from work at 6 p.m. and spirited me home, where I quickly whipped up Real Simple's "Fake It, Don't Make It" version of Mexican-Style Eggs before I had to leave again to make it to a 7 p.m. class at the community center. I think I walked into the kitchen at 6:07 and we finished eating at 6:39, giving me just enough time to clean up the dishes before heading out the door again. Given the speed with which it all unfolded, I must say this was a really tasty (if unusual for us) meal. I also appreciated that it was only 7 ingredients: 6" corn tortillas, refried beans, enchilada sauce, eggs, shredded cheddar and chopped scallions.
To prepare, you wrap the tortillas in foil and put them in a 250 degree oven to warm. Then you put the beans in a small sauce pan to heat up. The enchilada sauce simmers in a saute pan on the stove and when it's nice and hot, you break the eggs into it, spoon a little sauce over each one, then cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes. When the eggs are done cooking, it's assembly time: put a couple of tortillas on each plate and cover with a layer of beans, a layer of eggs/sauce, a layer of cheddar and some scallions. That's it. I am not usually a fan of fried eggs (I prefer scrambled) but in this case the egg was sort of obscured by the sauce, so I didn't mind them. I think I'll make this again, although possibly for brunch rather than dinner.
So... I've been lax in posting this past week because the cold that I had that I thought was going away flared up again and basically kept me out of the kitchen for several more days. But this weekend I made up for lost time with four great meals. 
Lunch yesterday: Chili PieThis is a Real Simple "Fake It, Don't Make It" recipe and it is both super simple and really tasty. You pull it together in two parts. First, you make the chili, by sauteing sweet Italian sausage in a skillet until it's cooked through. Then, add some chili powder and saute for another minutes before adding a can of kidney beans (drained), some salsa and a can of diced tomatoes and heat the whole mixture through. Pour that into a casserole dish and top it with the second part of the recipe: a box of corn muffin mix combined with an egg, some milk and shredded cheddar. Drop the cornbread mixture in dollops over the pie and gently spread it evenly so it covers all of the chili. Bake for 15-20 minutes and serve. Delish! I will definitely make this again.
Dinner yesterday: Foil Packet Shrimp with Asparagus and Jasmine Rice
Pam Anderson has a great system in her cookbook, "The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great" for pulling together fast, easy meals: she has you whip up a marinade (I chose one with soy sauce, sesame oil, vegetable oil, ginger and garlic), combine it with the protein and vegetable of your choice (I chose shrimp and asparagus, with the latter cut into one-inch pieces), then package into portion-sized packets fashioned out of aluminum foil. From here, you can either grill or bake the packets. Obviously, I went for the baking option. Set a rack at the lowest possible spot in the oven, set the temperature to 500 degrees, put the packets on a baking sheet, put the whole thing in the oven and roast for 15 minutes of so. When the cooking time is up and you open the packets, you'll find a flavorful dinner, with very little clean-up needed. Can't beat that.
Lunch today: Greek Frittata
This is another Real Simple recipe. This recipe is impressive because it seems easily adaptable to other fillings and looks elegant enough that you could serve it for a nice brunch and no one would need know that it is so easy to make. To wit: you start by pouring a bit of olive into a casserole dish and putting it into a 350 degree oven. As it heats, you pull the frittata together: whisk together eggs (the recipe calls for 10, I used 5 since I was cutting the recipe in half) with some salt and pepper, then mix in some fresh spinach, halved grape tomatoes and some chopped scallions, then add some crumbled feta. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the frittata puffs up nicely. Mr. Fritz, our dear friend Ms. Hays and I all agreed that it was way tasty. The hardest part was waiting for it to cook. I'm not used to having patience when it comes to cooking eggs!
Dinner tonight: Pasta with Proscuitto and Peas
This recipe capped off the weekend and it was a nice way to end a really restorative weekend. As I was making my grocery list today I was at a loss for what to make tonight and this recipe from Everyday Food looked just right. Martha Stewart demos how to make it in this video (written recipe attached, too). I added a couple of shortcuts: first, I added the frozen peas to the water when I threw the pasta in instead of waiting for them to thaw on their own. I also made the sauce in the same pan I'd used for the pasta instead of dirtying another one (the pasta and peas rested safely in a colander in the sink while the quick sauce came together) and finally, I added the pasta and peas back into the pot instead of pouring the sauce over them in yet another bowl/pot. In the end, then, this was a one pot/one colander meal. But more importantly, it was absolutely delicious. Wow. I will definitely make this again, possibly the next time we have someone over for dinner -- it's that good.
In any case, it's nice to be off the couch and back in the kitchen again.
Mr. Fritz and I went on a journey this afternoon to see the festivities happening on the Mall. We walked down to Constitution from our place and joined the huddled masses yearning to be warm, or at least close enough to the action to make it worth standing in the cold. In the end, we didn't last very long -- it turned out that we couldn't even stand along the security barrier to watch the very-far-away Jumbotron of Bono and company doing their thing, so we walked back before too long. When we got home, we watched the concert on our lovely television (thank you, TiVo!) next to a roaring fire, much better than our attempt at in-person viewing! And once it was over, I turned my attention to dinner, which tonight was Sauteed Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce, paired with jasmine rice and steamed asparagus tossed in butter and salt and pepper.
This was as simple as could be to prepare. First, I set the rice to cook in one pot, then I got the asparagus steaming in a second pot. In a saute pan, I heated some olive oil over medium heat, then added the chicken and let it cook for several minutes, turning it once it started to brown. Once the chicken was done, I set it aside and deglazed the pan with some white wine, then added a little cream, dijon mustard and chopped fresh tarragon to the pan. As soon as that was heated through, I plated the whole meal and served it. Simple to make and really tasty.
In my continuing efforts to feel better, I thought soup would be another good choice for lunch. I went with a Real Simple recipe for Minestrone soup, from their "fake it, don't make it" collection. The ingredients are, well, simple: a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, a 14 oz can of white beans, a 14 oz can of kidney beans (I substituted chick peas), a 16 oz bag of frozen cut green beans, a quart of chicken broth, and 5 or so ounces of fresh spinach. You start by bringing the tomatoes to a simmer, then add the beans and broth and return to a simmer, then the green beans and simmer for 3 or so minutes, then add the spinach at the end, mixing until it wilts. A little salt and pepper, plus some Parmesan on top of each bowl and some crusty bread on the side and you're done. Easy, fast, and good for you. My only comment: the recipe says it serves 4, but I think it's at least a 6-serving pot.
This was a meal that I had planned to make earlier this week but didn't due to my cold. I'm kind of glad that I waited until tonight, since it involved my food processor, which is not a tool I pull out very often on weeknights because it's annoying to have to clean it. In any case, this recipe for Sauteed Chicken with Herbed Soba was quite easy to prepare and was another nice light dish with bright flavors.
You begin by making an herbed pesto-like sauce out of fresh parsley, cilantro, ginger, minced garlic, chopped scallions plus a little vegetable oil and rice vinegar. After giving that a whirl in a food processor, you set it aside and turn your attention to the other two components of the dish: soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles), which just need about four minutes in a pot of boiling water before being drained and tossed with the herbed "pesto" and chicken cutlets, which you saute in vegetable oil and season with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper for 4-5 minutes. When the chicken is done, let it rest on a cutting board for a few minutes before slicing it thinly, then plate the dish by putting some of the herbed noodles in a bowl and placing the sliced chicken either on top or alongside the noodles. Mr. Fritz and I both liked this (we're two for two today!) and I really appreciated that it was a different twist on a typical chicken and pasta dish. Cilantro and parsley are inexpensive and easy to come by at the grocery store even in winter (unlike basil) and very little chopping is needed to pull the whole thing together. I will definitely make this again -- it would be nice for a summer picnic, too, as I think you could easily serve it cold.
I have been sick with an awful sore throat since some time late Tuesday night. Despite my best efforts to send it on its way, the darn thing continues to linger, making me grumpy, tired, more or less without appetite and definitely not in any shape to cook. Which has meant that Mr. Fritz has sort of had to fend for himself (and at times both of us) for the past few days. He has done a more than admirable job, even going out into the cold dark night on Wednesday and bringing home wood for the fireplace and a chocolatey mint milkshake to soothe his mopey wife's whims. But I am at the point now where I am trying to rally, and I thought I might get back on track with this ridiculously simple yet wonderfully tasty offering: Creamy Chickpea Soup with Garam Masala and Cilantro. It's a recipe from Pam Anderson and it appears in her latest cookbook, The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great. I first tried this recipe when she published it in USA WEEKEND Magazine a few years ago (I made it for Ms. Hays, actually), and was glad to see that it made the cut for the cookbook, because I always thought it was quite ingenious.
To make it, you toss a can of light coconut milk, two cans of drained chickpeas, half a cup of salsa, a cup of chicken broth, two tablespoons of apple juice concentrate, a teaspoon of ground ginger, a tablespoon and a half of garam masala and a quarter cup of cilantro leaves into a blender and puree until smooth. Then you transfer the puree to a dutch oven, bring to a simmer, partially cover and simmer away for 4 to 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls, top with a dollop of plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt) and some chopped scallions (I skipped them this time) and you're done. The whole thing takes about 10-15 minutes from start to finish and even the cleanup is simple. I served it along with a crusty French bread roll, perfect for dipping into the soup.What you end up with is something that tastes like a cream soup but actually contains no cream whatsoever, a boon for those who are trying to eat a little lighter this time of year. In fact, a one-cup serving has only about 275 calories, but lots of protein, thanks to the beans. Also nice: since you puree the soup at the beginning and not the end of the process, you don't have to worry about transferring hot liquids from the soup pot to the blender. I wish it were this easy to make all my favorited pureed soups! And to my delight, Mr. Fritz really liked it. I was worried that it would be too spicy for him or that he would be disappointed that it didn't have chunks of chicken or some other meat in it. But that wasn't the case at all. As a result, I will definitely make this again for us both.
Mr. Fritz, if you have not already figured, does not enjoy cooking. As much as he enjoys eating what I create, he isn't ever going to putter around in the kitchen with me or discuss culinary techniques. So at times, the kitchen can feel like a lonely place. When I need a cooking companion, I often plug my iPod into a set of speakers that Mr. Fritz has helpfully set up on our kitchen counter and listen to the podcast version of Lynne Rossetto Kasper's weekly radio show, The Splendid Table. I learned about Lynne's show ages ago thanks to my sister, Mrs. Capaldi. She and her husband, Mr. Capaldi, along with my nephew, young Mr. Capaldi, listen to The Splendid Table all the time and insisted that I check it out, which I did, and was delighted by it, but it wasn't always easy or possible for me to tune in when it was live on the air. Then, a couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Lynne at the annual Food Writers Symposium at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, and she was just as warm in person as she is on her show. I was thrilled, then, when she started making the show available as a downloadable podcast, because that meant that I would never have to miss an episode and would be able to listen whenever was convenient for me. Gotta love the information age! The show is great because it is a mix of field reports from foodies about must-visit restaurants, interviews with chefs, food writers and culinary experts, and a segment of Lynne answering readers' questions -- in other words, a great melange of culinary goodness and inspiration, perfect to take in as I go merrily along, cooking in my own kitchen. Plus, the podcasts are both free of cost and free of commercials. Can't ask for more than that! If you haven't listened to The Splendid Table, I recommend checking out the podcast or tuning in to the public radio station in your area to see if they carry her show on their airwaves.
Are you already a fan of Lynne's? Or are there other cooking podcasts you'd recommend? If so, leave a note in the comments!
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