Watcha making for dinner tonight!?

[Freedomin5]

Quinoa and black bean salad — the perfect lunch when it’s super hot outside!

[Sugaree]

I've got a big batch of veggie stock on the stove right now, so probably dinner is going to be a black bean and potato soup.

[jeninco]

Last night: this https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/09/stuffed-eggplant-parmesan/ with some angel-hair pasta for the teenagers and exercisers and a salad. It was darn and drizzly for a good bit of the day, and something baked was perfect (plus, Trader Joe's keeps having eggplants on sale for $1.60 or so, and the recipe uses only about a half lb of hot italian sausage per entire batch. We added a few spoonfuls of small white beans, cooked.)

Tonight: It's sunny! And lovely and warm out! We're having a version of this: https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-baja-shrimp-taco-salad-256166

[OtherJen]

Cold salad of canned tuna, Christmas lima beans, feta, scallions, yellow bell pepper, cucumber, and radish in vinaigrette dressing. Probably served over spinach.

[grantmeaname]

rainbow trout. and peanut butter brownies. and maybe some sides to connect the two, idk.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

My husband is cooking tonight, although I do the salad every day. He's making grilled chicken (marinated in a yogurt mix of some kind), sauteed beans & potatoes. I think he'll thinly slice the potatoes & throw those on the grill as well. I'll be having mine with wine. Yum.

[NotJen]

Peanut sauce veggie fried rice (https://www.veganricha.com/peanut-sauce-fried-rice/).  This is what I came up with to use up a red pepper (bought it with veggie burgers in mind, but made the bean spread for sandwiches instead).  Instead of tofu, I added some eggs.

[Serendip]

I always get so many ideas on this thread :)

Tonight we are having leftover PB and kidney bean stew..with rice & naan and a red-lentil/spinach side.
I also have an apple and rhubarb crisp in the oven but likely more for breakfast than desert

[BZB]

Baked chicken thighs in herbes de Provence and Dijon mustard marinade, garlic mashed potatoes, and green salad with buttermilk ranch dressing. Orange Jello jigglers for dessert!

[horsepoor]

Cooked a leg of lamb in the Instant Pot with a jar of red chile sauce I canned last summer.  I had mine as a burrito bowl with shredded cabbage and refried beans, while DH had proper burritos.

Tomorrow I'm doing chicken egg foo young served over stirfried Napa cabbage to use up some leftover chicken other random bits.

[middo]

Gnocchi bolognaise.  The bog sauce comes from the freezer as we always do a big batch, and the gnocchi from Aldi is cheap and yum.  Maybe a red wine with it.

[jeninco]

I was messing with our dairy order yesterday, when I saw that they added pulled pork from a really good local BBQ place, so I added a pound of that! (Far, far, from a mustachian purchase...)

It showed up with our milk at O-dark-thirty this morning and it's not much volume (in fact, I 'm tempted to weight it), so we'll have it with rolls, cole slaw, baked beans, cooked greens, and potentially some cornbread/spoonbread cross for dessert. With orange slices, because I went shopping today and now we have too many oranges.

[OtherJen]

I think we will have this: Easy Baked Penne with Ricotta and Basil

I'll use the last of the red sauce with ground turkey from the freezer and replace 4 oz of pasta with chopped mushrooms. I might also mix in some spinach. It's a good excuse to use up the tub of ricotta in my fridge. I think I bought it for an Easter dessert that obviously didn't happen.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Lemon butter baked tilapia & sauteed green beans

[mm1970]

Leftover vegetarian lasagna.  We have a ton of veggies to use up, so yesterday, I decided lasagna (because we also had a partial box of GF lasagna noodles).

Thing is, we didn't have any ricotta or cottage cheese (or any vegan alternatives like cashews or tofu).

The vegetarian red sauce had marinara sauce, red and yellow bell peppers, onion, zucchini, and broccoli.

The "cheese sauce" had sauteed spinach, a little bit of cream cheese, a cube of frozen pesto and... a pureed can of white beans. It's really good.

We also ran out of mozzarella, so we subbed a little cheddar/jack and goat cheese. 


Last night no side veg, tonight kale chips.

[NotJen]

Pork chops (first time buying them from the grocery store instead of my local guy - they're boneless and butterflied - we'll see how it goes).  Serving with roasted corn, sauteed okra, and cornbread.

[BZB]

It's 5 de Mayo, so Mexican food! Homemade guacamole, taco meat, pinto beans, salsa, queso, tortilla chips, and fresh mango for dessert

[JoJo]

Cinco de Mayo.  Gonna fry me up some chicken fajita filling (chicken breast, green peppers, and onions), served on romaine lettuce topped with cilantro and homemade salsa my roommate made.

[SailingOnASmallSailboat]

Son (20) is on dinner tonight (we're rotating through dinner duties) - he's making homemade empanadas, some filled with beef and some with chicken. A little challenging as we last got groceries 4 weeks ago so fresh items are limited; I did talk him into using canned chicken for the chicken filling instead of one of the 2 packs left in the freezer.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

[Dicey]

I've already confessed this over on couponvan's journal, but we had the traditional lasagne and salad to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
I had all the ingredients on hand for a Taco Fiesta, which may have been the problem. Seems we've been eating a lot of Mexican food lately and there was a full tray of lasagne in the other fridge. Convenience won. Or maybe it was laziness, enabled by past industriousness.

However, I may have redeemed myself by preparing a Khalua Chocolate Cake for dessert. It's cooling on the stove, so I'll have to report back later.

[jeninco]

We had some poblano chilis taking up space in the fridge, so I broiled them, mixed them with slightly mashed potatoes, black beans, and corn (and a little jack cheese) and made enchiladas. And salad.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

We have leftover grilled chicken. I'll probably turn that into chicken tacos for tonight

[OtherJen]

Didn't get to cook dinner last night because of work and a Zoom meeting, so we'll have our Mexican feast tonight. Mom dropped off some extra tostada shells from her last grocery order, so I think I'll make black bean tostadas.

Edit: I also had all the ingredients for a batch of guacamole and a batch of margaritas, so we had a proper feast. : )

[FrugalKube]

Okonomiyaki!
(savoury Japanese pancake with cabbage, eggs, etc).

I've always wanted to try this!

You should @FrugalKube!  Very tasty and you don't really need all that many ingredients. Just find a recipe with the basics and go from there--it is good to have a bit of mayonnaise or yogourt for a topping (we used yogourt with green onions, chives & capers mixed in...tasty)
If you ever go to Japan, there are some restaurants that only serve this dish...much more elaborate than my homemade version

All good info! My wife has been to Japan a few times and tells me all about Okonomiyaki

[FrugalKube]

Yea last night we had hometacos, had salsa chicken from sunday and we made up some ground turkey too. Used the instant pot to make black beans which turned out pretty good.

[Serendip]

Tonight: leftover spicy chickpea & kale pomodoro. Yum.

[sui generis]

Tonight: leftover spicy chickpea & kale pomodoro. Yum.

Sounds interesting!

We're having kidney bean "curry" - spicy and verrry gingery!

[BZB]

popcorn and an apple, keeping it simple tonight

[jeninco]

I went to Trader Joe's on Monday, knowing I was planning for tonight's meal, so we had hummus, zhaug, cherry tomatoes, and little persian cucumbers. We made cake&tomato salad, and also low-key tzaziki. Then we made https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/12/falafel/ and https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/03/pita-bread/ (because commercial pita bread sucks).

This dinner requires a bit of advanced preparation (the chickpeas need to start soaking the night before, (don't be like me and leap out of bed at 6 am to put them on to soak because you forgot, although it worked) and the pita dough needs a bunch of hours in the fridge, but the actual dinner comes together fairly quickly, and is delicious!

[tthree]

Deep dish pizza in a cast iron pan.  Used the last of my yeast:(

[horsepoor]

Seared some little kune-kune pork chops in cast iron served with sauteed mushrooms. On the side we had steamed artichokes with mayo and golden beets with dill, lemon and Aleppo pepper.  We may or may not have eaten Whoppers for dessert.

[Dicey]

Peanut sauce veggie fried rice (https://www.veganricha.com/peanut-sauce-fried-rice/).  This is what I came up with to use up a red pepper (bought it with veggie burgers in mind, but made the bean spread for sandwiches instead).  Instead of tofu, I added some eggs.

I made this tonight and it was a hit! I used a combination of black, brown, and basmati rice plus quinoa and barley, so it looked nothing like the picture, but it was good. Bonus: I finally (accidentally) figured out how to brown tofu cubes! I had the griddle out on the counter, so I used it to brown the cubed tofu while I did all the other steps. I kept turning them so every side was browned. Genius!

[OtherJen]

Last night, I made an old favorite meal: sautéed chicken thighs, sliced mushrooms, and onions in olive oil, seasoned with a couple tablespoons of Emeril’s essence spice blend (very good; I recommend using smoked paprika and cutting the cayenne in half unless you like a lot of heat), and served over spaghetti squash.

Tonight, I’ll use the rest of the chicken and some chickpeas in this (not) butter chicken recipe from Budget Bytes, which will be served over rice and accompanied by a green salad.

[NotJen]

Peanut sauce veggie fried rice (https://www.veganricha.com/peanut-sauce-fried-rice/).  This is what I came up with to use up a red pepper (bought it with veggie burgers in mind, but made the bean spread for sandwiches instead).  Instead of tofu, I added some eggs.

I made this tonight and it was a hit! I used a combination of black, brown, and basmati rice plus quinoa and barley, so it looked nothing like the picture, but it was good. Bonus: I finally (accidentally) figured out how to brown tofu cubes! I had the griddle out on the counter, so I used it to brown the cubed tofu while I did all the other steps. I kept turning them so every side was browned. Genius!

The sauce was so good!

That’s a great idea for the tofu, I’ll have to try that sometime!

[jeninco]

Peanut sauce veggie fried rice (https://www.veganricha.com/peanut-sauce-fried-rice/).  This is what I came up with to use up a red pepper (bought it with veggie burgers in mind, but made the bean spread for sandwiches instead).  Instead of tofu, I added some eggs.

I made this tonight and it was a hit! I used a combination of black, brown, and basmati rice plus quinoa and barley, so it looked nothing like the picture, but it was good. Bonus: I finally (accidentally) figured out how to brown tofu cubes! I had the griddle out on the counter, so I used it to brown the cubed tofu while I did all the other steps. I kept turning them so every side was browned. Genius!

The sauce was so good!

That’s a great idea for the tofu, I’ll have to try that sometime!

If you're feeling less patient, you can cut it into strips -- there's less turning, and almost every surface will get browned.

[sui generis]

We made this pasta last night: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021000-pasta-with-garlicky-spinach-and-buttered-pistachios

I felt like it had a lot of potential, but didn't end up remarkable.  It's just missing something.  But it was soooo easy that I want to try to figure it out so we can put it in the regular rotation.  I'm not a great cook or chef, though, so I don't know what flavor profile I need to add or whatever.  Maybe a bold herb, like mint? I'm just not sure that would go with the slight tang of the capers.  Or just some spice, like crushed red pepper?  It feels like it needs more *flavor* to me, though, not just spice.

Anyway, posting here in case anyone wants to workshop it with me.

[OtherJen]

We made this pasta last night: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021000-pasta-with-garlicky-spinach-and-buttered-pistachios

I felt like it had a lot of potential, but didn't end up remarkable.  It's just missing something.  But it was soooo easy that I want to try to figure it out so we can put it in the regular rotation.  I'm not a great cook or chef, though, so I don't know what flavor profile I need to add or whatever.  Maybe a bold herb, like mint? I'm just not sure that would go with the slight tang of the capers.  Or just some spice, like crushed red pepper?  It feels like it needs more *flavor* to me, though, not just spice.

Anyway, posting here in case anyone wants to workshop it with me.

My first instinct would be to replace some of the butter with bacon grease. If you're trying to stick with vegetarian, maybe some smoked paprika for a bit of smoky umami.

[turketron]

We made this pasta last night: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021000-pasta-with-garlicky-spinach-and-buttered-pistachios

I felt like it had a lot of potential, but didn't end up remarkable.  It's just missing something.  But it was soooo easy that I want to try to figure it out so we can put it in the regular rotation.  I'm not a great cook or chef, though, so I don't know what flavor profile I need to add or whatever.  Maybe a bold herb, like mint? I'm just not sure that would go with the slight tang of the capers.  Or just some spice, like crushed red pepper?  It feels like it needs more *flavor* to me, though, not just spice.

Anyway, posting here in case anyone wants to workshop it with me.

Hmm, from the recipe that sounds like it should be pretty good as-is, but I were looking to spice it up I'd probably start by adding some combo of mushrooms + red pepper flakes + lemon juice/zest.

[NotJen]

I’m making turkey pot pie tonight (https://damndelicious.net/2013/11/22/leftover-thanksgiving-turkey-pot-pie/), with a side of roasted broccoli.  I don’t think I’ve ever made a pot pie, but it sounds pretty good today, and uses the last of my shredded turkey from a few weeks ago.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Taco salads

[Rural]

Red beans and rice with fried apples for dessert.

[Tyson]

Fresh Italian pork sausage and fermented kraut.

[jeninco]

the large bored kid wanted to make gnocchi, so we made this: https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/01/gnocchi-in-tomato-broth-more-book-tour/ but with a more standard tomato sauce, rather then with broth. And with artichokes: as long as Trader Joe's is going to sell them 4 for $3, or whatever, I'll keep buying them every two weeks when I go there.

The gnocchi were a PITA, and not yummier then just eating the potatoes. Plus, they made a mess of the kitchen.

[horsepoor]

We made this pasta last night: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021000-pasta-with-garlicky-spinach-and-buttered-pistachios

I felt like it had a lot of potential, but didn't end up remarkable.  It's just missing something.  But it was soooo easy that I want to try to figure it out so we can put it in the regular rotation.  I'm not a great cook or chef, though, so I don't know what flavor profile I need to add or whatever.  Maybe a bold herb, like mint? I'm just not sure that would go with the slight tang of the capers.  Or just some spice, like crushed red pepper?  It feels like it needs more *flavor* to me, though, not just spice.

Anyway, posting here in case anyone wants to workshop it with me.

Hmm, from the recipe that sounds like it should be pretty good as-is, but I were looking to spice it up I'd probably start by adding some combo of mushrooms + red pepper flakes + lemon juice/zest.

Yeah, I was thinking "Put some Aleppo pepper in that shit!"  (Aleppo and Urfa chili are a couple of my favorite things - lots of flavor without adding too much spice, not that we're spice-averse AT ALL).  Also, did you salt your pasta water adequately?  Often when something is missing a certain je ne se quois, the answer is often salt, so either more salt, or use more parm, like a good reggiano or something.  Or maybe toss in a scrambled egg a 'la pasta carbonara to give it some more heft.

Tonight I invented Scotch jalapeno poppers.  Yesterday I saw a video of of BBQ pitmaster types were making "burger bombs" where were basically seasoned ground beef with a serrano shoved in the middle, and the whole thing wrapped in bacon and cooked over charcoal (I think; wasn't really paying attention).  I liked the idea, but the bacon looked floppy at the end, and I thought it needed cheese.  So halved and seeded some monster jalapenos, broiled them a bit, and then put a piece of sharp cheddar in each and wrapped in seasoned ground beef to form a little meat torpedo.  Draped half a slice of bacon over each and baked, ramping up the heat at the end to get the bacon crisped up.  Other than some of the cheese running out, they were super delicious.  I might try whole jalapenos next time to contain the cheese better (that would especially work if they are cooked with the jalapenos vertical, now that I'm thinking about it).  We had asparagus and tater tots on the side because life is all about balance.

[OtherJen]

Husband is making fried rice with bacon, mushrooms, and whatever vegetables he found in the fridge.

[Dicey]

Tonight will be lentil burgers on homemade hamburger buns with sweet potato fries and a salad on the side. The lentil burger recipe is new from somewhere upthread, I think. The hamburger buns are from The Frugal Girl, which I made once before, a long time ago. Fingers crossed.

[JoJo]

Firing up the grill for the first time this year - Grilled chicken breast and asparagus.

[Dicey]

Hamburger buns were a hit, lentil burger recipe from Bon Apetit not so much. BBQ sauce helped. I like the idea of a veggie burger, so if anyone has recommendations, I'm interested. I only made a half batch of buns, but I still have a bunch left to work with.

[OtherJen]

Hamburger buns were a hit, lentil burger recipe from Bon Apetit not so much. BBQ sauce helped. I like the idea of a veggie burger, so if anyone has recommendations, I'm interested. I only made a half batch of buns, but I still have a bunch left to work with.

Of course now I can't find the recipe in my own file, but this looks like the Martha Stewart recipe I used to like (and should probably make again now that husband is able to digest beans): https://www.marthastewart.com/332312/spicy-black-bean-cakes. In fact, this recipe is going on the upcoming menu plan.

I definitely remember the sweet potato, which goes really well with black beans. My only recommendation is not to grill these because they can get a bit crumbly, and then you end up sacrificing some to the coals or burners.

[OtherJen]

Also, @Dicey , if you have a lot of uncooked lentils to use up, this is one of our favorite ways to prep and eat them: https://smittenkitchen.com/2014/02/stuck-pot-rice-with-lentils-and-yogurt/

I recommend adding 5 minutes of cook time to the lentils and rice (or cooking all of it ahead of time on the white rice setting on the pressure cooker, if you have one).