Menu for Week of 10/24
Saturday
Dinner for 2 for $13!
Pecan crusted and Parmesan crusted trout; Orange bell peppers sauteed with almonds, grape tomatoes, red onion, and currants (Contorni); Sweet French bread
Sunday
Curried apple and leek soup (Allrecipes); Bell peppers (leftover)
Monday
Pork chops with blackcurrant jam sauce (Mayo clinic webpage); Curried apple and leek soup (leftover)
Tuesday
Swiss chard and cottage cheese (Spectrum, 305); Pork chops (leftover)
Wednesday
Roasted Tofu with Pineapple and Cilantro (Spectrum, 286); Swiss chard (leftover)
Thursday
Eggs, shredded zucchini, white corn, and mozzarella; Napa cabbage; Signature Cafe soup
Saturday night's meal of trout (bought the fillets at Lunardi's and baked at 350 degrees for 30 mins) and bell peppers was really good. I liked the pecan trout more than the parmesan trout because, for some reason, the pecan helped to counter the fishy taste. I really liked that the skin was left on too as it browned up quite nicely. The peppers were a huge surprise. The dish started out rather bland and sorry, but once I added in the spoonful of salt/sugar/lemon/vinegar, the dish was completely transformed. The almonds imparted a nice, roasty taste to it. The leftovers the next day were even more delicious and the toasted almonds, although soggy, actually made it taste like the peppers had been roasted!
ReplyDeleteThe curried apple and leek soup was soooo good!!! We ravaged about half in one night.
ReplyDeleteHere is my modified version of what was on Allrecipes:
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 teaspoons curry powder
* 2 large leeks, chopped (about 1.5 lb)
* 1.5 cup diced potatoes
* 2 Granny Smith apples (about 0.75 lb)
* 3 cups chicken broth
* pepper to taste
* 1/4 cup plain yogurt
1. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Stir in curry powder and cook 1 minute. Stir in leeks, potato and apples and cook 5 minutes. Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes.
2. Puree in a blender or food processor, or using an immersion blender. Season with pepper and serve with a swirl of yogurt.
Blackcurrant sauce was amazingly easy and tasty. I would pre-season the pork chop with sea salt and pepper next time as the chop itself ended up rather tasteless. Unfortunately, I can only picture this sauce working well with pork. Orange slices garnish added little to nothing - I would eliminate them next time.
ReplyDeleteRecipe from the Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-recipes/NU00423), modified with my recommendations.
Ingredients:
* 1/4 cup black currant jam
* 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
* 2 teaspoons olive oil
* 6 4oz center cut pork loin chops, trimmed
* 1/3 cup wine vinegar
* salt and pepper
Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the jam and mustard. Rub salt and pepper over the chops.
In a large, nonstick frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Top each pork chop with 1 tablespoon of the jam-mustard mixture. Cover and cook for 2 minutes more. Transfer the pork chops to warmed plates.
Cool the frying pan to a warm — not hot — temperature. Pour wine vinegar into the pan and stir to remove the bits of pork and jam. Pour the vinegar sauce over each pork chop. Serve immediately.
Swiss chard and cottage cheese was very yummy. It reminded me of a healthy palak paneer. Lemon, though initially questionable, added a delightfully fresh touch and the sourness worked. Spiciness should be reduced by half next time around, though amount suggested (1/2 tsp red pepper flakes) was not too overwhelming once the cottage cheese and lemon were added. B didn't like the texture (pureed) or the taste (too sour) at all.
ReplyDeleteTofu didn't defrost even after a full night in the fridge, so made a "frittata" instead. Combined three eggs with one cup of filling (shredded zucchini and mozzarella from one string cheese). Browned it deeply on both sides... it was absolutely delicious! Would add some sea salt to the mixture next time, as that heightened the flavors a lot more. Easy and delicious.
ReplyDeleteThe roasted tofu recipe from "The Spectrum" was TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!! Who the hell uses that much cumin for cryin' out loud? The tofu was really dry and made me gag. I think pan-frying it would have given it better texture. The salsa was pretty decent, though I couldn't believe that even more cumin was recommended, so I left it out. Don't try this. It's nasty.
ReplyDelete