So...whats for dinner?

illimae

Catching up on everything that sounds and looks good, even the empty plate, lol

Tonight was Pork Teriyaki Meatballs with squash, zucchini and carrots over cauliflower “rice”. This one is definitely another winner 😋

Reader425

illimae that looks delicious! And really healthy.

Tonight was a bakery quality chicken and vegetable pie ( bought from a local place) and a big salad with lots of vegetables thrown on. This is a busy week for a lot of reasons including Dr. Visits so I'm cutting some corners.

Lacey12

Looks so tasty, Illimae!

Tonight we had cod fish tacos since it was “Tacko” Tuesday here in Celtics’ nation. There is a recently acquired rookie who is a 7’6” player from Senegal, whose middle name is Tacko. He has become an endeared phenom in the greater Boston area, a lovely young man of high character who copes amazingly with the unrelenting attention. Folks are constantly using taco memes and asking for selfies, which he obliges. Since the Cs were going to play their last pre-season game tonight, and Tacko was in the line up, slated to play a lot before he will be dispatched to Portland where he will join the development league for the Cs, we decided to have fish tacos for dinner. I have never made fish tacos before, and haven’t even made beef tacos since my kids were young.

I would definitely use a softer taco shell or make it a burrito style if I make these again. Tasty but really messy with the hard shells. We had a cuke salad as a side.

Couldn’t get the taco to stand up! 🤣

Nance, I was so hopeful for your Cardinals this year, and offer my condolences now. People must be feeling like the Red Sox fans did for a VERY LONG TIME. Things do change, so keep up the hope! On Sunday evening at the restaurant, the host was a tall young man who seemed interested in chatting sports with us when he learned we’d just cme from the Celtics’ game. Turns out he is a 2018 Boston College grad who is in a development league for St Louis, in Johnson City TN. He pitches, and is very happy with the Cardinals organization. Maybe he’ll help them! I thought of you as we spoke to him about his experiences. Nice kid!

MinusTwo

Well I did boil the French Green Lentils for 3 minutes & soak in 1/8 tsp of baking soda overnight. On the counter & not in the fridge. One article on the www said the baking soda might negate the Vit B. Another from NCI looked like that is not true. I thought after I rinsed this morning I'd have to continue boiling for the remaining 15+ minutes, but I think these will be perfectly slightly crunch & delightful in today's main dish salad - which will include beets. I don't eat kale, but wish I had spinach on hand to include. Maybe I'll stir fry instead with the green "leaves" from the bok choy I bought yesterday.

Any lentil ideas welcome.

Oops - forgot to say the dinner pictures from illimae and lacey look delicious. Lacey - seems I only use the soft flour taco shells anymore.

M0mmyof3

Since it’s going to be a rainy miserable night here, I am making omlet

Beaverntx

Rainy last night, cool today so tortilla soup is on the dinner menu.

illimae

Tonight was Lemon Chive Chicken.

MinusTwo

illimae - if you didn't live on the other side of town I'd be knocking at your door for dinner a lot. Yum.

What all went into the Pork Teriyaki meatballs? Do you have a recipe you would share? Since it's fall. I'm thinking about things simmering and things in the oven.

ChiSandy

Last night was the La Spinetta winemaker dinner at RPM Steak (we visited the winery in Tuscany back in 2016). For wine descriptions see the "how about drinking" thread--the wines were from grapes in the company's Piemonte vineyards near Alba. Amuse bouche was foie gras mousse on brioche (I left the brioche) with almond-milk custard and a tiny piece of fresh fig. Cold app. was a beef crudo (carpaccio, but leaner) with fresh spinach & Parm-Regg. Next was a pasta (about 1/3 c., the first pasta I've had since June!): hand cut "taijin" (like a spaghettini) in a butter-cream-Parm. Regg sauce with white Alba truffle (in season now) shaved over the top. Next was seared duck breast atop chestnut puree, with tiny medallions of seared foie gras. Last full savory course was 60-day dry-aged prime grass-fed ribeye, Tuscan style, with a black truffle "ragout" condiment. Then came the cheese course: ripe Taleggio, accompanied by sourdough toast (I ate only the crust), a tiny slice of wine-poached pear and five hazelnuts in truffle honey. Dessert was a tart: semifreddo over a mix of ricotta & mascarpone in a cookie crust (I left the crust). I didn't do as much dietary damage as I'd feared, as the portions were small; as for the wines, I drank maybe an ounce of each (well, two oz. ea. of the champagne-style sparkler and the 2004 Barbaresco Riserva); Bob was glad to take up the slack, as he wasn't driving. Now, damage to our wallets, however....

Tonight? Leftovers from this weekend's dinner at Publican (porchetta, delicata squash; saving the pork rillettes for breakfast tomorrow), plus 1/4 grilled chicken from the hot bar at Jewel and a small insalata Caprese made from our homegrown heirloom tomatoes (yellow, red, purple Cherokee) and basil. We have 14 on the sill (about half of them ripe or ripening) and 6 more still green on the vine--we'll pick them when the frost is forecast for the lakefront. We will likely have tomatoes into November before we'd have to buy any.

illimae

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hellofresh.com/recipes/pork-bulgogi-meatballs-5c87deb3c445fa7e37296d72%3famp=true

Pork Teriyaki Meatballs recipe above. I don’t do spicy, so I left out the sriracha.

Oh and someone told me the other day that Houston is an hour from Houston, so true, lol

MinusTwo

LOL - thanks for the pork meatball recipe.

carolehalston

Last night's dinner was a big delicious garden salad that included avocado and blue cheese. The main dish was butter beans over brown rice. The butter beans were cooked without meat.

Tonight may be a fried rice dish and a repeat of last night's garden salad.

On the trip home I ordered the vegan Impossible Burger at a burger king. It tasted like a hamburger but was much too large as is the Whopper burger. Half would have been a better portion. The bun was nice and so was the sliced tomato and lettuce.

Vegan must be really catching on. Our cop nephew and his wife in Chicago are giving it a try. The wife, who is not a cook, bought a cookbook and is cooking vegan dishes, even dessert foods. She saw a program on tv that made an impression on her.

Lacey12

Interesting to hear about your impossible burger try ou, Carole. DH keeps mentioning that he wants to try it, if we ever find ourselves at a Burger King. I wonder how they make it taste like a hamburger. My DDIL1 has been sharing how much she likes a fake meat product that she uses in their vegan meals, called “Beyond Meat”. I have yet to ask her what's in it. I always figure that it has to contain some tofu and beans, and maybe some grain or nuts....but will have to explore further.

After going to the nutrition conference this week, I’ve been further motivated to make even healthier meals...which means reducing even the chicken dishes (our red meat consumption is already almost non existent) we often have and ramp up my salads with even more veggies.

Last night we had had salmon, with sweet potatoes and spinach salad with pear as sides. Tonight, I made stuffed portobello mushrooms, using farro, sauteed with onion, garlic and spinach, with balsamic vinegar added. And of course we had salad....this time with romaine, tomatoes, carrot, cauliflower, red onion, persian cuke, yellow pepper and red cabbage...a fun, satisfying salad, topped with my fave horseradish dressing.

Yogatyme

Tonight was eggplant parmigiana. I found a new sauce.... butternut bourbon......delish!! Watercress salad and garlic toast made with honey sesame whole grain bread. Enough leftovers for another meal!! (My favorite part of cooking.😂

illimae

Tonight was another Hello Fresh meal, Cheesy Beef Tostadas layered as follows, cheese blend, black beans, seasoned ground beef/onion/green pepper, raw onion/cilantro/lime juice, avocado and a sour cream/hot sauce mix. Tasted great 😋

Definitely not vegan but it was the only meat I had today.

MinusTwo

Yogatyme - welcome to the table. I've seen you on other threads, but can't remember if you've joined us for dinner before. Please forgive my aging memory. Hmmmm Butternut Bourbon sauce. Looking forward to new creations.

Took my nephew to lunch today at what used to be my favorite pizza place. Item #1 on the menu is two slices and a salad. They've totally changed their absolutely delicious salad and added more bitter stuff. Maybe arugula or field greens or kale - anyway I'm sorry to say I was unhappy. I ate it, but I don't like bitter greens. Combined with the fact that the combo went up another $2.00 in price, I will thus write off one of my long time 'go to' restaurants.

I invented a bedtime creation last night while trying to empty the remains of a bottle of De Kuypers schnapps that had been in the back of the cupboard for a LONG time - and to fight off a cold house. 2 oz of Gentleman Jack bourbon and 1 oz of butterscotch schnapps. Delightful sipping.

carolehalston

Lacey, thanks for reminding me of Portobello mushrooms as an idea for using "stuffing."

I used the left over brown rice last night in making a skillet main dish. Other ingredients were celery, carrot, mushroom, chicken breast and smoked sausage. Side was an overly large garden salad with romaine, cucumber, tomato, Kalamata olive, avocado and blue cheese. We have difficulty not making too much salad. My dressing was white wine vinegar and EVOO.

I'm thinking of eggplant layered dish for tonight if I find some nice eggplants.

This afternoon I may venture over to Mandeville to a large bookstore and look at vegetarian cookbooks. I suspect this interest in vegetarian is partly the result of our summer diet centered around easy meat meals with potatoes as a side. With cooler weather soups will become a good option. I also want to make some veggie burgers with black beans.

It would be nice to find Rao's at a good price, also a better selection. My supermarket doesn't offer the Puttanesca which some of you mention.

Yogatyme

Minus Two, thanks for the welcome!! The butternut bourbon is a Mia’s Kitchen sauce. It was with pasta sauces at our local Harris Teeter but likely in other grocery stores.

ChiSandy

The Impossible Burger is soy-based and relatively carby (a hamburger is 0 gms, but the Impossible is 5 gms net carb). It does taste beefy, with a pretty good chew. The Beyond burgers (plus sausages) are made from pea protein, have 2 gms net carb because they have more fiber, but don't taste as beefy (or so I'm told--have yet to buy one; had the Impossible at Umami Burger in Vegas last Feb.).

WorryThePooh

illimae, that looks so delicious!

I'm trying to work out what to do for dinner tonight so thought I'd find inspiration in this thread! Think I might just cook some tortellini and have it with tomato and onion pasta sauce, and maybe add some mushrooms.

M0mmyof3

Grilled chicken parm here tonight.

carolehalston

A stop at the farm stand in Madisonville yesterday afternoon changed my dinner menu. I bought two bunches of mustard greens. We had mustard greens and cornbread for dinner. Yum. The greens were very good with pepper vinegar. The corn bread, of course, required butter.

I also bought 5 lbs of shrimp from a man who had set up shop on the same property as the farm stand. Those required immediate attention when I got home. I now have 5 bags of headed shrimp in the freezer, frozen in water. Actually we'll be eating one of the portions tonight along with fresh okra from the farm stand. I plan to cook the okra with Rotel tomatoes and garlic. I will "air fry" the shrimp with a light coating of Louisiana fish fry.

Any leftover okra and tomatoes will be frozen for use in a chicken gumbo at some point.

Minus, thanks for the heads up on Rao's sauce on sale. It was $5.99 at Target. Same limited selection, though. No Puttanesca. Lacey and Nance and anybody else with suggestions, how would you convert the marinara to Puttanesca?

My trip to Barnes & Noble yesterday in search of a cookbook with good vegetarian recipes turned out fruitless. Vegan and Keto are all the rage, I discovered. There were shelves of cookbooks on both. I did get the opportunity to inspect a couple of vegetarian cookbooks I saw on Amazon, one by ATK and one by Mark Bittman. I probably won't buy either of them. The print was small and the layouts didn't appeal. I find I don't like encyclopedic cookbooks.

Welcome to newcomers to our kitchen table. It's great to have new people posting.

SpecialK

Tonight is boneless pork chops - think I will pan sauté after a light dredge in flour and seasoned panko crumbs. Also having green beans that I will steam and then sauté in a little lemon olive oil and stir in sliced almonds and Parmesan. Additional side is sweet potatoes that will be oven roasted.

carole - to make the marinara into puttanesca I would sauté some garlic and anchovies in olive oil over low heat to dissolve the anchovies and keep the garlic from burning, but don't add any salt. Add some capers and kalamata olives and the marinara and simmer for a short time, then toss withthe pasta.

Beaverntx

My puttenesca sauce recipe calls for red pepper, either flakes or ground. Amount depends on how hot you want it, of course.

SpecialK

beaver - oh geez! Totally forgot the red pepper flakes! Thanks!!!

Beaverntx

SpecialK, I remembered the red pepper because I used too much the first time I made it!

Yogatyme

We’re treated at sister & BIL’s house last night. BIL made really good pasta sauce & included homemade meatballs. Ate very little pasta but enjoyed that sauce & meatballs. Tonight, leftover eggplant parm & salad. Starting to think about tomorrow and what to cook. Friend gave me bell peppers from her garden, so considering how to best use them.....open to suggestions!

eric95us

Tonight is pizza. Tomorrow is eating out at the Grand Canyon and Tuesday through Friday afternoon is backpack food.

The Grand Canyon work I was supposed to do a few weeks ago was rescheduled to this Tuesday.

Sharon is going along too and she's looking forward to it....me too...

Beaverntx

Eric, travel safely!

Yoga, re bell peppers eat them raw, stuff and bake them, chop and use in stir fry or for fajitas, etc. They are considered a staple in our house. Lucky you to have a nice friend.

Yogatyme

Beaverntx, thanks for the suggestions! You are so right about my friend, she’s the gardening angel. We have had freshveggies from her garden all summer....getting the last of the harvest now....always a sad thing for us. Grocery vegetables never come close!