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| Sara Foster (a local Durham girl!) + Cooking Light Best of 2010 + Quick & Fresh = recipe GOLDMINE |
I've been on a cleaning rampage of the living room, my bedroom, the laundry room, my bathroom, the dining room, and most of all -- the kitchen! I love having guests (especially when my parents come) because it gives me an excuse to give into my borderline OCD and clean like a mad woman! Today alone I managed to go through all the "hide-away bags" in my room--you know those bags that you can throw everything in when you're cleaning in a hurry and zip it up, stash it in a corner, and your room looks great in time for company-- as well as tackle the kitchen and dining room. Ask anyone who's been to my apartment and they'll tell you it's always incredibly clean... to them! Apparently I'm great at having a spectacularly clean room that's actually quite dirty and cluttered with those hide-away bags. So I've emptied all of those, put some summer clothes I won't need for awhile at the top of my closet (once I realized I could reach the top shelf with a step-stool I forgot we had -- it was like a whole new beginning for my closet).
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| My OCD on display: each post-it labeled and then rediscovered all the recipes marked with orange post-its (hidden by some of the purples) and green ones! |
But back to the kitchen: I started cleaning out the fridge and discovered we had 1/2 our tupperware supply in there, swept, wiped down the cabinets, stove and fridge, and cleaned the sink. On top of our fridge, we have a basket with smaller cookbooks and torn-out recipes and cooking magazine of all sorts; we also keep all of our cookbooks lined up next to it. The cookbooks are quite visible and I know which ones we have, but the magazines are anyone's guess. In preparation for dinner with my parents on Friday night (which for some reason I offered to cook instead of my dad grilling a great steak or my mom making my favorite chicken), I went through our arsenal of recipes and founds some hidden gems! I've found enough to keep me salivating at my computer for the next 2 weeks at least (and that doesn't include all of the recipes I tagged and dog-eared before tonight)! To whet your palate too, I'll give you a quick preview of what I found and what's going to be shared soon...
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| A well-loved cookbook, as is anything from Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa |
5 tempting starters:
Roasted Vegetable Platter (think onions, red and green and orange peppers, butternut squash, asparagus)
Rosemary White Bean Soup (one of my favorite discoveries in Florence)
Arugala and Pear Salad with Toasated Walnuts (perhaps as a starter)
Parmesan Croutons
Cheddar Corn Chowder (perfect for the cool weather everywhere but North Carolina!)
5 delicious sides:
Roasted Fennel with Parmesan
Roasted Root Vegetables with Sorghum and Cider (as an accompaniment)
Spiced Potatoes and Green Beans
Parmesan Smashed Potatoes
Roasted Carrots (yummy... from one of my favorite chefs Ina Garten)
And how do I decide between 7 awesome main dishes:
Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach and Couscous
Steak Tacos with Cucumber-Avocado Salsa
Grilled Flank Steak Soft Tacos with Avocado-Lime Salsa (similar and equally as delicious sounding)
Spiced Pork Chops with Apple Chutney (sounds like a great fall dish)
Grilled Lemon Chicken
Hoisin and Bourbon-Glazed Pork Tenderloin
The Perfect Roast Chicken
I can hardly decide a main dish, let alone a starter and side for Friday's dinner... plus I haven't even begun to think about wine! I guess it's a good dilemma to have, right?
Well I won't share all of these delicious recipes in one swoop; isn't it always more fun to build up the suspense and drag out the gift-giving a little? Since I just spent 2.5 hours procrastinating bigger cleaning tasks (definitely not a waste, but not what I had planned on spending those 2.5 hours doing), I'll share the quickest recipe I've ever made, loved, and re-discovered tonight... what I call:
My Quickie Salad with
Goat Cheese & White Beans
Makes 4 servings (each about 2 cups of greens each)
Ingredients:
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| Nothing beats fresh balsamic vinaigrette dressing! |
Dressing:
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar (normal people probably only need 2, but I like the dressing to have a little punch!)
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard (I like Grey Poupon the best)
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
Salad Mixings:
12 oz bag of mixed greens
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (1 large plastic container)
1 cup canned cannellini beans (low sodium), drained & rinsed
4 oz fresh goat cheese (low fat), crumbled
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, torn (I just do as many as I feel like doing that day... probably closer to 1/3 cup)
... you can also use 1-2 tsp dried basil if you really want, but fresh basil is MUCH BETTER!
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| My favorite fresh goat cheese, Ile De France ($3.99 for 4oz) |
Preparation:
In a small bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, and mustard together; season with salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, drizzle the mixed dressing over the mixed greens. I like to toss the greens with the dressing before adding the other goodies to evenly distribute the dressing without having all the goodies sink to the bottom.
Divide the greens evenly among the 4 plates (or however many people you're serving).
Top each plate with about 7ish tomatoes, 1/4 cup beans, and 2+ tbsp of goat cheese.
Sprinkle each plate with fresh basil and EAT UP!!!
This recipe makes a PHENOMENAL tangy balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I made it for my family the first time last Thanksgiving eve and got everyone hooked! A and I make a version of this dressing (I like to add some fresh squeezed lemon juice) and use it with almost every single salad we make! It's got a great kick, but you can always tone it down a bit by using a little less balsamic vinaigrette and less mustard. You really can't mess up this dressing recipe - just taste as you go and you'll find your stride.
This salad is super easy and honestly only takes 5 minutes!
Perfect for a quick dinner night where you are more excited
to watch Modern Family than cook!
...And all of the previously mentioned recipes will be shared over the next 2 weeks.
I'll also attach links to the recipes on this post to make it easy!
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