STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

nightshade · Nine West

RE: Weekly Menus/meals! We haven't done this in AGES

ILoveChoo · Hermes

I need to think about this week's menu today, but so far I'm feeling:
-polenta with smoke, prosciutto and habenero, with salad
-spinach and artichoke mac and cheese (based off a Rachael Ray recipe, but lightened up significantly)
-homemade ravioli with homemade ricotta (I've been on a homemade pasta kick lately)
-some sort of soup

And I have a bunch of mushrooms that I need to use up somehow.

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

Elle wrote:

D, my favorite cheeseless pizza is Thai-style. Peanut butter for the sauce, thinned w/some soy sauce, hoisin, and sriracha until it's a texture you like, topped with thinly sliced red and orange peppers, green onions, cilantro, and juilienned carrots. It would be weird with cheese anyway, so yo don't feel like it's 'missing'.

Elle, you are a culinary genius!

I made this for dinner last night and it was great. In addition to the toppings you suggested, I also added crimini mushrooms and sliced avocado. And then I topped it with the cilantro when it came out of the oven, and also had some basil minced up with the cilantro. Yum! DH wants to try it with shrimp on it next time, and I think I'll try adding some pan fried tofu.

Elle · Hermes

I'm glad you liked it! If you have some around, sweet chili sauce brushed around the edges of the crust before you top it makes it even better. Mmmmm!

Last night was spinach salad w/tomatoes and balsamic, Pasta E Fagioli soup, and a couple small slices of garlic bread.

Tonight is tofu and broccoli w/peanut sauce over rice noodles.

Wednesday will be pineapple and black bean enchiladas.

Thursday is either corn chowder or french onion soup, with an salad made from the arugula out of our garden

.

Friday is dinner out!

Kelly · Hermes

ILoveChoo wrote:

And I have a bunch of mushrooms that I need to use up somehow.

If you're still trying to use them up, BF and I are making this recipe tonight:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/mushroom-bourguignon/

We haven't made it yet, but I'm really looking forward to it!

Elle · Hermes

Or mushroom and barley soup!

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

Some recipes from this week:

Lunch yesterday: Mixed baby greens salad with cucumber, hardboiled egg, cheese, cherry tomatoes, and balsamic dressing

Dinner: Penne pasta with roasted red bell peppers and italian sausage, from this month's Cooking Light. It was REALLY good

Dinner tonight: Shrimp scampi

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Elle wrote:

Tonight is tofu and broccoli w/peanut sauce over rice noodles.

Thursday is either corn chowder or french onion soup, with an salad made from the arugula out of our garden .

Hey, Elle, questio about the french onion soup...how do you make yours? I've made it a couple of times in the past, but only on weekends because it takes so frigging long to get the onions to the correct softness/sweetness. Do you use a processer to cut them up, or do you really hand-chop fifty billion onions? Hmm, I'm guessing you forgo the cheese on top, huh? And use veggie broth istead of beef?

Also, I totally just pulled a recipe off of Martha Stewart that was shrimp with broccoli and peanut sauce and rice noodles. I would be tempted to use the tofu, but the BF is sometimes a little funny about that.

Elle · Hermes

My French Onion is a quick-and-dirty version - I don't think it makes good leftovers, so I just make enough for 2 servings. I slice one whole large onion and put it in a big pan with 1/2 cup of water, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or so. Then remove the lid and allow the liquid to simmer off for another few minutes. After that you can adjust the heat to keep them from burning, and add a little olive oil and a touch of sugar if you want. Start to finish the onions themselves take 20-30 minutes? Then I pour in 4 cups of broth (either beef broth or 'french onion' from pacific natural foods, in the aseptic box), throw in some thyme and S&P, and simmer for a few minutes. Then I just ladle it into a couple ramekins, top with cubed stale/toasted bread and cheese and broil on low until the cheese is bubbly and brown.

RE: the tofu, hubby doesn't love it either, but likes it much better if I freeze/thaw first. It changes the texture quite a bit, less eggy. His favorite way to have it is tossed w/some cornstarch and panfried with vegetable oil and a little soy sauce.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Elle wrote:

My French Onion is a quick-and-dirty version - I don't think it makes good leftovers, so I just make enough for 2 servings. I slice one whole large onion and put it in a big pan with 1/2 cup of water, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or so. Then remove the lid and allow the liquid to simmer off for another few minutes. After that you can adjust the heat to keep them from burning, and add a little olive oil and a touch of sugar if you want. Start to finish the onions themselves take 20-30 minutes? Then I pour in 4 cups of broth (either beef broth or 'french onion' from pacific natural foods, in the aseptic box), throw in some thyme and S&P, and simmer for a few minutes. Then I just ladle it into a couple ramekins, top with cubed stale/toasted bread and cheese and broil on low until the cheese is bubbly and brown.

RE: the tofu, hubby doesn't love it either, but likes it much better if I freeze/thaw first. It changes the texture quite a bit, less eggy. His favorite way to have it is tossed w/some cornstarch and panfried with vegetable oil and a little soy sauce.

I'm gonna definitely have to try that onion soup version. It's one of my favorite soups, but it time-consuming. Maybe I'll make the longer version this weekend and attempt the short-cuts in the coming weeks.

The tofu, frozen...what does that do to the water content? I'm a nut when it comes to getting the water out. I usually let it sit between towels and books while I head out to walk the beast. I just don't think it fries up properly without getting most of the water out. Do you freeze, than thaw, and then squeeze?

sydney · Kate Spade

Kelly wrote:
BF and I made pizza last night, too! We made two small, personal pizzas because we both wanted different sauces and toppings. I used this dough recipe I found on AllRecipes.com - quick, simple, and delicious!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pizza-Dough-I/Detail.aspx

Here's a picture of his - he's a graphic designer and never gives me any picture without editing it a little - I don't actually live in a sepia kitchen

-- Edited by ttara123 at 18:07, 2009-02-10

That looks delicious Kelly - My DH and I have been making a lot of pizza lately too. I love buffalo mozzerella, basil and really good pepperoni. I also like jalepenos and cold tomatoes

Elle · Hermes

relrel wrote:

The tofu, frozen...what does that do to the water content? I'm a nut when it comes to getting the water out. I usually let it sit between towels and books while I head out to walk the beast. I just don't think it fries up properly without getting most of the water out. Do you freeze, than thaw, and then squeeze?

You can freeze it in the packaging it comes in, which results in a big fluffy block that you can easily squeeze all the water out off in just a few minutes instead of waiting an hour to press the non-frozen stuff. This is how I usually do it, because I'm lazy.

But, if you're broiling it or otherwise doing a dryer cooking method I think it would have a better texture to remove it from the liquid it comes in, wrap it up good and freeze/thaw that way, pressing before you use it. I think it would be a nice medium texture - not drier and spongy like freezing in liquid and not soft and eggy like fresh.

Metric · Gucci

Monday- Fish and chips (frozen fish and homemade french fries)
Tuesday- Roast chicken with roasted potatoes, tomato salad
Wednesday- Chicken leftovers, maybe quesadillas or tostadas
Thursday- Beef and mushroom stew in the crockpot
Friday- not sure yet, maybe takeout blankstare
Saturday- homemade fried chicken in our new deep fryer

Not a healthy week but a yummy one. Its cold out and we need comfort foods.

Suasoria · Chanel

Monday - sauteed broccoli, yellow bell peppers, onion, mushroom, seitan in peanut sauce.
Tuesday - raw pasta consisting of cashew "cream" sauce over zucchini noodles with tomato, mushroom, basil, asparagus, etc.
Wednesday - I'll have to update/edit as the week elapses...

janey831 · Kate Spade

So far this week I have had:

Chicken & Artichoke in a lemon-white wine broth over whole wheat pasta and broccoli

Roasted Red Pepper, Mushroom, Spinach, red onion frittata with light cheddar

Aurora · Marc Jacobs

This week I'm finishing up some leftovers from last week/the weekend. I will be rotating beef-lite with brats and sauerkraut through Wednesday and then Thursday I'm not sure yet. Friday will be a Morning Star Farms black bean burger for lunch and then fish tacos for dinner. Saturday I'm sure we'll be eating in part of the day and out part of the day.

Beef-Lite (Crockpot)
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
2 cans of cream of whatever 98% FF soup (10.75 oz)

line slow cooker with the liner, combine all in slow cooker, cook on low for 6-8 hours, serve over brown rice. If you split it into 1/2 cup servings (1/2 c beef, 1/2 c brown rice) you get 6 servings at 5 Weight Watcher Points total per serving.

Elle · Hermes

Last night - Green curry w/spinach, bell peppers, green onions, ginger, and cilantro over brown rice with crispy temeh.

Monday - Fajitas - sauteed bellpeppers and onions w/black beans on corn tortillas

Tuesday - Crustless Quiche w/braised chard and toast

Wednesday - Broiled tofu w/whole wheat couscous and seared cabbage

Thursday - Baked potatoes w/avocado, black beans, and salsa

Friday - ?

Kelly · Hermes

My favorite dinners of this past week were:

-tacos (lean beef, lettuce, salsa, cheese)
-baby spinach, mushroom, red onion, pepper, and goat cheese pizza

I can't remember what we ate the rest of the week, so it was either leftovers or uninteresting! Yesterday we had in super heavy diner breakfast and felt awful the rest of the day, so he ate a big salad for dinner and I ate a big bowl of fruit.

littlebean · Kate Spade

This week's meals:
-Curried Red Lentil And Swiss Chard Stew With Garbanzo Beans
-Chicken And Cashew Stir-Fry
-Baked Trout with Shiitake Mushrooms, Tomatoes and Ginger, with roasted asparagus and potatoes on the side
-And leftovers of the same!

ILoveChoo · Hermes

-burgers with stilton, oven fries
-veggie meatball parm subs,salad
-eggs "benedict" with biscuit and crabcake, asparagus
-pesto crusted lamb, rosemary potatoes, asparagus
-steak with onion and radish pickle in tortillas, black beans
-blackened swordfish with mango-pineapple salsa